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T  131  IE 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION 

OF 

RICHARD,  EARL  OF  BELLOMONT, 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  PROVINCES 

OF 

NEW  YORK,  MASSACHUSETTS  AND  NEW  HAMPSHIRE, 


FROM  1697  TO  1701. 


AN  ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  NEW  YORK  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY,  AT 
THE  CELEBRATION  OF  ITS  SEVENTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY, 
TUESDAY,  NOVEMBER  18th,  1879, 

BY 

FREDERIC  de  PEYSTER,  LL.  D.,  F.  R.  U.S., 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  SOCIETY 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED   FOR  THE 

MDCCCLXXIX. 


SOCIETY. 


OffS)T£ 

F 


NOTE. 


Owing  to  a  misunderstanding  with  the  printer,  the  "  proof  sheets  "  of  this  Address 
were  not  diligently  compared  with  the  author's  manuscript,  in  consequence  of  which, 
several  typographical  and  orthographical  errors  and  a  few  other  mistakes  occur  in  its 
pages.  As  these  errors  were  not  discovered  until  the  entire  edition  of  the  Address  had 
gone  through  the  press,  the  printing  of  an  errata  became  necessary.  It  will  be  found 
on  page  60. 


SEVENTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY, 


At  a  meeting  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  held  in  its 
Hall,  on  Tuesday  Evening,  November  18th,  1879,  to  celebrate  the 
Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary  of  the  Founding  of  the  Society,  the 
First  Vice-President,  Mr.  Charles  O'Conor,  presided. 

In  accordance  with  the  course  observed  on  similar  commemo- 
rative occasions,  the  Rev.  Thomas  E.  Vermilye,  D.  D.,  senior 
minister  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church,  New  York  City,  at  the 
request  of  the  presiding  officer  offered  up  a  very  impressive  and 
appropriate  prayer. 

Mr.  O'Conor  then  introduced  the  orator  of  the  evening, 
Frederic  de  Peyster,  LL.  D.,  President  of  the  Society,  who 
delivered  the  Anniversary  Address,  the  subject  being  "  The  Life 
and  Administration  of  Richard,  Earl  of  Bellomont.'" 

On  the  conclusion  of  the  address,  Hon.  Erastus  Brooks,  after 
some  remarks,  submitted  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Society  be  presented  to  the 
President  of  the  Society,  Frederic  de  Peyster,  Esq.,  LL.  D.,  for  his 
learned  and  able  address  delivered  before  the  Society  this  evening, 
and  that  a  copy  be  requested  for  publication. 

The  resolution  was  seconded  by  Prof.  Henry  Drisler,  LL.  D. 
with  remarks,  and  was  adopted  unanimously. 

[Extract  from  the  Minutes.] 

[Signed]    ANDREW  WARNER, 

Rp  cording  Secretary. 


Office?^  of  fftc  Society, 


FREDERIC  de  PEYSTER,  LL.D.,  F.R.H 

0 

FIRST  VICE-PRESIDENT, 

CHARLES  O'CONOR. 

SECOND  VICE-PRESIDENT, 

BENJAMIN   H.  FIELD. 

FOREIGN  CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY, 

ERASTUS  C.  BENEDICT,  LL.D. 

DOMESTIC  CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY, 

EDWARD  F.  de  LANCEY. 

RECORDING  SECRETARY, 

ANDREW  WARNER. 

TREASURER, 

BENJAMIN  B.  SHERMAN. 

LIBRARIAN, 

JACOB  B.  MOORE. 


FIRST  CLASS  FOR  ONE  YEAR,   ENDING  l88o. 

BENJAMIN  H.  FIELD,  WILLIAM  DOWD, 

GEORGE  H.  MOORE,  LL.D. 

SECOND  CLASS — FOR  TWO  YEARS,  ENDING  1881. 

SAMUEL  OSGOOD,  D.D.,  WILLIAM  R.  MARTIN, 

CHARLES  P.  KIRKLAND,  LL.D. 

THIRD  CLASS — FOR  THREE  YEARS,   ENDING  1882. 

EDWARD  F.  de  LANCEY,  JAMES  H.  TITUS, 

JACOB  D.  VERMILYE. 

FOURTH  CLASS — FOR  FOl'R  YEARS,  ENDING  1883. 

JOHN  TAYLOR  JOHNSTON,  ERASTUS  C.  BENEDICT,  LL.D., 

ROBERT  LENOX  KENNEDY. 

CHARLES  P.  KIRKLAND,  LL.D.,  Chairman. 
JACOB  B.  MOORE,  Secretary. 

[The  President,  Recording  Secretary,  Treasurer,  and  Librarian  arc  members,  cx-ojfficioy  of  the 
Executive  Committee. 1 


Committee  on  tfic  tfwc  dfUfo< 


ASHER  B.  DURAND, 
ANDREW  WARNER, 
GEORGE  H.  MOORE, 


JOHN  A.  WEEKS, 
DANIEL  HUNTINGTON, 
CEPHAS  G.  THOMPSON. 


ASHER  B.  DURAND,  Chairman. 
ANDREW  WARNER,  Secretary. 


[The  President,  Librarian,  and  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  are  members,  cx-officio, 
of  the  Committee  on  the  Fine  Arts.] 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION 

OF 

RICHARD,  EARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


OstfsO 


The  subject  which  I  have  chosen  for  my  Address,  this  evening, 
is  a  sketch  of  the  Life  and  Administration  of  Richard,  Earl  of 
Bellomont,  Governor  of  the  Provinces  of  New  York,  Massachusetts 
and  New  Hampshire,  under  William  the  Third.  As  the  time  at 
my  disposal  is  limited,  I  shall  be  able  to  refer  only  to  the  most 
important  details  of  Governor  Bellomont's  administration,  confining 
my  remarks  principally,  if  not  wholly,  to  those  bearing  in  an  espe- 
cial manner  on  the  history  of  the  Province  of  New  York. 

As  the  first  actual  friend  of  the  people  and  sympathizer  with 
honest  democratic  forms  of  government  who  administered  the 
affairs  of  this  Colony  under  the  English  crown,  the  Earl  of  Bello- 
mont must  ever  have  a  strong  claim  to  the  respect  and  regard  of 
the  citizens  of  this  State ;  and,  as  the  unflinching  foe  of  dishonesty 
in  every  form,  an  equally  strong  claim  to  the  respect  and  regard  of 
all  impartial  men. 

In  the  first  named  particular,  Bellomont  was  in  complete 
accord  with  the  great  mass  of  the  inhabitants,  then  chiefly  Dutch, 
or  of  Dutch  descent.  lie  bravely  and  consistently  defended  the 
memory  of  their  two  leaders,  Leisler  and  Milborne,  who  perished  on 
the  scaffold,  victims  to  the  implacable  hatred  of  a  small  hut  powerful 
clique  of  persons  whose  only  thought  was  profit  and  self-aggran- 


i 


2 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  oK 


dizement.  He  likewise  insisted  upon  justice  being  done  to  the 
memory  of  these  unfortunate  men,  and  on  the  restitution  of  their 
property  to  their  suffering  families,  although  in  so  doing  he  knew 
that  the  hatred  of  those  opposed  to  these  proceedings  would  be 
transferred  to  himself. 

A  marked  feature  of  Bellomont's  career  was  that  he  disdained 
to  increase  his  fortune  by  affiliation  or  collusion  with  public  or 
private  plunderers,  although  at  that  time  no  province  under  the 
English  Crown  offered  more  abundant  or  safer  facilities  for  amassing 
great  wealth  than  the  Province  of  Xew  York.  His  study  of  the 
affairs  of  the  Province  previous  to  coming  thither,  had  tended  to 
convince  him  that  the  so-called  aristocratic  party,  here,  that  assumed 
to  influence  and  direct  the  administration  of  the  colonial  govern- 
ment, was  composed  principally  of  persons  whose  conduct  was 
selfish  in  the  extreme,  and  who  preyed  on  the  Colony  to  the  great 
detriment  of  its  material  prosperity  and  the  peace  and  welfare  of 
its  inhabitants,  openly  in  defiance  of  the  law.  1 1  is  strong  and 
ever  present  sense  of  duty  would  not  allow  him,  once  having 
assumed  office,  to  neglect  enforcing  the  Acts  of  Parliament  bearing 
on  the  affairs  of  his  government,  even  though  some  of  them  were 
obnoxious  to  the  people ;  but  he  resolved  to  conciliate  the  loyal 
and  well-disposed  inhabitants  by  a  determined  opposition  to  wrong- 
doing in  every  form. 

The  life  of  such  a  personage  cannot  be  devoid  of  interest  to 
the  general  public,  and  must  afford  many  valuable  lessons  to  the 
thoughtful  student  of  history.  It  is  additionally  interesting  from 
the  fact  that  it  is  more  or  less  intimately  connected  with  events 
that  have  stamped  themselves  indelibly  upon  the  pages  of  history. 
The  greatest  among  these  wTas  the  English  Revolution,  which,  by 
forcing  the  abdication  of  James  II,  and  raising  to  the  English 
throne  the  sagacious,  brave  and  patriotic  AVilliam,  Prince  of  Orange, 
"  dispelled  all  the  mysteries  of  kingcraft  and  priestcraft,  and 
settled  monarchy  on  its  only  true  basis,  the  rights  of  the  people."  * 


*  Note  to  Williams's  edition  of  Blackstone's  Commentaries. 


RICHARD.    KARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


3 


As  we  are  often  enabled  to  gain  a  clearer  insight  to  the 
character  of  a  man  by  a  knowledge  of  his  family  history  and 
descent,  I  shall  begin  this  Address  by  presenting  a  brief  genealogy 
of  Governor  Bellomont,  and  saying  a  few  words  about  the  Coote 
family,  of  which  he  was  a  distinguished  representative. 

According  to  the  records  of  the  British  Peerage,  the  family  of 
Coote  is  of  very  ancient  date,  being  able  to  trace  its  lineage  back 
to  Sir  John  Coote,  a  native  and  knight  of  France,  who  nourished, 
it  is  supposed,  sometime  in  the  eleventh  century.  This  Sir  John 
married  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  the  Lord  of  Boys  in  the  same 
kingdom,  and  had  issue  a  son,  likewise  Sir  John,  who  came  over  to 
England,  and  settled  in  Devonshire,  where  he  married  the  daughter 
of  Sir  John  Fortescue  of  that  county.  The  descendants  of  this 
union  contracted  alliances  with  other  families  of  wealth  and  position 
in  England  ;  and  from  this  source  are  sprung  the  several  distin- 
guished families  of  later  times  bearing  the  name  of  Coote. 

In  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  the  immediate  ancestor  of 
Lord  Bellomont  was  Francis  Coote,  Esq.,  who  was  in  the  service  of 
the  Queen.  His  son.  Sir  Nicholas  Coote,  was  living  in  the  year 
1636.  Sir  Nicholas  had  issue  two  sons;  the  elder  son,  Charles,  his 
heir,  the  grandfather  of  the  Earl  of  Bellomont,  entered  the  service 
of  his  country  as  a  soldier,  and,  as  Captain  of  "one  hundred  foot," 
served  in  Ireland  in  the  wars  against  O'Xeil,  Earl  of  Tyrone. 
He  subsequently  became  Provost  Marshal  of  Connaught,  and  later, 
Vice-President  of  the  same  Province ;  and  in  1621,  having  recently 
been  sworn  of  the  Privy  Council,  he  was  created  a  baronet  of  Ireland, 
by  Letters  Patent  dated  April  '2d  in  the  same  year.  Some  years 
previous  to  receiving  this  last  honor,  Sir  Charles  married  "  Dorothea, 
the  younger  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Hugh  Cuffe,  Esq.,  of  Cuffe's 
Woods,  County  Cork,  Ireland,  and  had  issue  three  sons,  Charles, 
Chidley,  and  Richard."  *  Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  Irish 
Rebellion,  in  164-1,  he  again  entered  the  field,  this  time  at  the  head 

*  Burke's  Extinct  and  Dormant  Peerages  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 


4 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


of  one  thousand  men.  Although  lie  rendered  himself  peculiarly 
obnoxious  to  the  inhabitants  "  by  his  sanguinary  speeches  at  the 
council  board  and  massacres  throughout  the  country,'"*  and  won  a 
most  unenviable  reputation  by  the  excessive  severity  and  harshness 
with  which  he  conducted  his  campaigns  against  the  Irish,  he  was 
acknowledged  to  be  a  most  successful  military  chief.  One  of  his 
most  notable  military  successes,  was  the  surprising  passage  of 
Montrath  Woods.  In  this  daring  exploit  he  advanced  to  the  relief 
of  the  Castle  of  Birr  at  the  head  of  thirty  dismounted  dragoons, 
beat  off  the  enemy  with  the  loss  of  their  leader  and  forty  men,  and 
after  spending  forty-eight  hours  in  the  saddle,  returned  to  camp 
without  having  lost  a  single  man.f  About  a  year  later  he  lost  his 
life  in  a  sally  from  the  town  of  Trim.  At  his  death,  his  eldest  son 
Charles,  who  held  the  office  of  Provost  Marshal  of  Connaught — 
to  which  he  had  been  appointed  on  the  promotion  of  his  father  to 
the  Presidency — succeeded  to  the  title  of  Baronet.  In  1645,  the 
civil  war  being  then  at  its  height,  he  was  made  Lord  President  of 
Connaught,  and  during  the  ensuing  ten  or  twelve  years  was  actively 
engaged  in  warlike  operations  in  various  parts  of  Ireland,  lie  was 
a  staunch  adherent  of  the  "  Republicans,"  and  received  many  dis- 
tinguished marks  of  favor  from  Parliament.  His  principles,  how- 
ever, seem  to  have  been  somewhat  elastic,  for  when,  on  the  death 
of  Cromwell,  public  agitation  began  to  shape  itself  in  favor  of  the 
Restoration,  he  was  one  of  the  first  among  the  parliamentary 
leaders  who  fell  in  with  the  current  of  popular  opinion.  Acting 
simultaneously  with  several  other  prominent  parliamentarians,  who 
from  various  motives  now  declared  for  Charles  II,  he  made  himself 
master  of  Galwav  and  Athlone,  and  soon  after  took  possession  of 
Dublin  Castle. 

A  Convention  favorable  to  the  Restoration  was  assembled  in 
Dublin,  and  continued  its  session  in  defiance  of  the  orders  of  the 
English  Council  of  State.  The  declaration  of  Charles  II,  at  Breda, 
being  presented  to  the  Convention,  was  accepted  by  acclamation  ; 


*  Encyclopedia  A  mericana. 

\  Burke's  Extinct  and  Dormant  Peerages  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 


RICHARD,    EARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


5 


and,  amid  great  rejoicings,  the  King  was  proclaimed  in  all  the  large 
towns  throughout  Ireland.  "Thus,"  to  use  the  language  of  an 
impartial  writer,  "the  restoration  of  the  son  in  Ireland,  was  effected 
by  the  same  persons  who  had  been  mainly  instrumental  in  bringing 
his  father  to  the  block." 

While  these  events  were  progressing,  Sir  Charles  Coote 
despatched  a  trusty  messenger  to  the  Marquess  of  Ormonde  at 
Brussels,  requesting  that  His  Ma  jesty  be  informed  of  his  affection 
and  duty,  and  declaring  that  the  whole  kingdom  of  Ireland  was 
ready  to  receive  him.  The  King,  who  knew  the  strength  of  Sir 
Charles  and  the  importance  of  his  support,  received  this  declaration 
with  great  satisfaction;  and  in  return  for  his  loyalty  promised  him 
an  earldom,  and  a  high  military  command.  After  the  Restoration, 
the  King,  who,  whatever  were  his  faults,  was  not  unfaithful  to  his 
friends,  confirmed  Sir  Charles  in  his  post  of  Lord  President  of 
Connaught,  appointed  him  Keeper  of  the  Castle  of  Athlone, 
granted  him  various  important  immunities,  and  raised  him  to  the 
peerage  of  Ireland,  under  the  title  of  the  Earl  of  Montrath,  by  Letters 
Patent  dated  the  t!th  of  September,  lfifiO;  this  title  being  chosen 
in  commemoration  of  the  famous  exploit  of  his  father,  previously 
referred  to.  The  favor  of  the  King  did  not  however  confine  itself 
to  Sir  Charles;  on  the  same  day  that  the  latter  was  created  an  Earl, 
his  brother  Richard,  who  had  likewise  been  active  in  promoting  the 
Restoration,  was  raised  to  the  peerage,  as  Baron  Coote  of  Colooney, 
County  SligO,  Ireland. 

Some  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  previous  to  his  elevation  to 
the  peerage,  Richard  Coote  married  Mary,  the  second  daughter  of 
Sir  George  St.  George,  Baronet,  of  Carrickdrumruske,  County 
Leitrim,  Ireland.  From  this  union  there  were  four  children, 
Charles,  Richard,  Ohidley,  and  Thomas.  The  first  named  died  in 
infancy.  The  father.  Lord  Coote,  died  on  the  10th  of  .Inly,  1683. 
At  his  death,  Richard,  his  eldest  surviving  son,  inherited  the 
title. 


*  Ree's  Encyclopedia. 


6 


LIFK   AND   ADMINISTRATION  OF 


Richard,  the  second  Baron  Coote  (afterwards  Earl  of  Bello- 
mont),  was  born  in  lfi36.  Of  his  career  during  the  early  years  of 
his  life,  very  little  is  recorded.  The  first  mention  of  him  in  history 
is  as  a  member  of  Parliament  for  Dwitwich,  England,  a  place  long 
celebrated  for  its  famous  salt  springs,  and  supposed  to  have  been 
the  Salinae  of  the  Romans ;  and  he  appears  to  have  represented 
this  borough  several  years. 

The  restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  although  welcomed  by  the 
people  as  a  guaranty  of  peace,  stamped  the  democratic  revolution 
in  England  as  a  failure,  but  this  failure  did  not  kill  the  principles 
involved.  The  doctrine  of  passive  obedience  to  the  will  of  the 
sovereign,  zealously  upheld  by  the  great  reformers — Luther,  Cram- 
ner,  Ridley,  and  Latimer — had  received  a  severe  blow ;  and  the 
right  of  resistance,  inculcated  by  Calvin  and  Knox,  had  been  too 
successfully  tested  to  be  forgotten.  Republican  principles,  the 
inevitable  outgrowth  of  this  latter  doctrine,  which  contained  the 
germs  of  political  freedom,  were  but  temporarily  stilled,  and  from 
motives  of  policy  rather  than  fear,  lay  dormant  during  the  reign  of 
the  second  Charles.  These  principles,  it  is  true,  were  cherished 
only  by  the  thoughtful  few;  but  firmly  rooted  in  their  minds, 
were  destined  to  bear  golden  fruit  ere  the  close  of  the  century. 
Augmented  by  a  fear,  if  not  detestation  of  Catholicism,  they  first 
showed  themselves  in  the  English  Commons,  which,  on  three  con- 
secutive occasions,  passed  the  bill  excluding  the  Duke  of  York, 
recently  converted  to  that  faith,  from  the  succession  to  the  throne. 
This  bill,  it  is  almost  needless  to  say,  was  defeated  by  the  action  of 
the  Lords  and  the  King.  Even  the  people  were  not  yet  ready  for 
so  violent  a  measure ;  and  on  the  death  of  ( Iharles,  no  opposition 
was  shown  by  them  to  the  succession  of  his  brother  James. 

As  on  the  occasion  of  Charles  II  coming  to  the  throne,  so  on 
the  accession  of  James,  the  nation  "  wearied  with  plots  and  cabals," 
and  heartily  disgusted  with  the  constant  agitations  and  fears  to 
which  it  had  been  made  a  prey  during  the  preceding  reign,  "had 
run  into  the  extreme  of  loyalty  and  subservience."  The  King's 
will  again  became  the  indisputed  law,  and  by  new  enactments  of 


RICHARD,   EARL  OF   BELLOMONT.  i 

the  Parliament  the  Kind's  Council  was  vested  with  almost  despotic 
power.  Large  revenues  were  accorded  the  sovereign,  who  was 
thus  entirely  relieved  from  that  galling  dependence  on  Parliament 
!  which  had  SO  effectively  held  his  predecessor  in  check.  Peaceful 
relations  with  Holland  were  entered  upon  with  great  earnestness 
by  -lames,  and  many  acts  of  kindness  and  attention  were  shown  by 
him  to  his  son-in-law,  the  Stadtholder. 

The  speedy  suppression  of  the  insurrection  headed  by  the 
Duke  of  Monmouth,  natural  son  of  Charles  II,  served  to  strengthen 
and  confirm  the  power  of  .lames.  Hut  he  was  foolish  enough  to 
use  Ins  opportunities  to  effect  Ins  own  nun.  Taking  advantage  of 
the  excitement  attending  the  rebellion,  he  instituted  measures 
having  for  their  object  the  restoration  of  the  Catholic  religion  and 
the  establishment  of  a  standing  army.  The  fears  of  the  nation — 
who  was  devoted  to  Protestantism — were  excited,  and  decided 
opposition  was  awakened.  These  fears  were  still  further  increased 
by  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  by  Louis  XIV  ;  and  the 
members  of  the  Reformed  Church  throughout  Europe  shared  the 
alarm  of  the  English  people.  French  persecution  drove  hundreds 
of  Protestants  to  England  for  safety,  and  this  leaven,  operating 
upon  the  agitated  nation,  hastened  the  development  of  the  crisis, 
that  three  years  later  was  to  force  the  King  to  abandon  his  throne. 

Despite  the  growing  distrusted'  the  King  by  the  nation,  James 
maintained  the  most  friendly  relations  with  the  Stadtholder  of 
Holland;  he  declared  he  was  not  in  sympathy  with  Louis  in  his 
harsh  measures  against  the  French  Protestants,  and  asserted  that 
the  measures  he  had  himself  instituted  in  England,  had  no  other 
object  than  the  vindication  of  his  royal  prerogatives,  and  were 
intended  as  much  for  the  benefit  and  security  of  his  successor 
as  for  himself. 

The  nobility  of  England,  in  unison  on  the  subject  of  the 
protection  of  their  rights  against  all  encroachments,  were  divided 
into  two  great  parties.  The  Tories  in  accord  with  the  Spiritual 
Lords  may  be  termed  the  party  of  "divine  right.''  The  Whigs, 
more  liberal,  opposed  principally  the  encroachments  of  the  sovereign  ; 


8 


LIFE   AM)   ADMINISTRATION  OF 


they  accepted  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  may  he  termed  the  party 
of  "progress."  The  conduct  of  James,  who  evidently  no  longer 
pretended  to  govern  by  the  laws  of  the  land,  hut  according  to  his 
own  will  and  pleasure,  was  well  calculated  to  excite  the  fears  of 
both  parties.  When,  however,  it  became  "manifest  that  nothing- 
short  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Protestant  Church  was  his  ultimate 
design,"  the  indignation  of  both  Tories  and  Whigs  was  aroused. 

In  the  spring  of  1HS8,  James  gave  mortal  offence  to  the  clergy 
of  the  established  Church  by  his  second  declaration  of  liberty  of 
conscience.  The  doctrine  of  passive  obedience  having  been  found 
to  work  disadvantageously  to  the  prospects  of  the  Church,  was  no 
longer  advocated  by  the  bishops ;  and  setting  the  example,  in  their 
own  persons,  of  resistance  to  the  royal  order,  seven  of  their  number 
refused  to  promulgate  this  declaration.  For  this  offence  they  M  ere 
imprisoned,  but  on  trial  were  acquitted,  greatly  to  the  joy  of  the 
nation.  Protestants  of  all  sects  took  alarm  at  the  conduct  of  the 
King.  The  Presbyterians,  compelled  by  the  firmness  evinced  by 
the  seven  bishops  of  the  Church  of  England  to  acknowledge  that 
they  were  wrong  in  accusing  that  Church  of  a  leaning  towards 
Catholicism,  joined  with  it  in  the  struggle  for  the  preservation  of 
the  State  and  the  Protestant  religion.  To  this  large  and  important 
element  were  united  all  opposed  to  James,  whatever  their  party  or 
denomination. 

Up  to  this  time  relief  had  been  looked  for  by  the  Protestants 
only  from  the  succession  to  the  throne  of  their  co-religionist,  Mary, 
the  elder  daughter  of  James,  and  wife  of  Prince  William  of  Orange, 
then  Stadtholder  of  Holland.  But  even  in  this  patient  hope  they 
seemed  destined  to  disappointment,  for,  on  the  loth  of  June,  1688, 
the  King's  second  wife,  Mary  of  Modena,  like  himself  a  Catholic, 
gave  birth  to  a  son.  There  were  many  who  looked  upon  the 
new-born  Prince  of  Wales  as  a  supposititious  child  ;  and,  as  may 
be  imagined,  this  belief,  although  without  any  other  foundation 
than  a  deep-seated  distrust  of  James,  tended  to  increase  the  outcry 
against  him. 

Both  parties  of  the  aristocracy  and  all  branches  of  the  Protes- 


BIOHABD,  KA BX  OF  BEIXOMONT.  !> 

taut  church  now  concurred  iu  the  belief  that  nothing  but  revolution 
could  save  the  religion  and  liberties  of  England  :  and  in  the 
husband  of  the  Princess  Mary  was  discerned  one  competent  to  act 
as  the  deliverer  of  the  nation.  Several  English  gentlemen  betook 
themselves  to  Holland  on  various  pretences,  but  really  with  the 
design  of  influencing  the  Prince  of  Orange  to  secure  his  wife's  suc- 
cession. Private  negotiations  were  also  entered  into  with  William, 
through  Gilbert  Burnet,  afterward  Bishop  of  Salisbury.  A  powerful 
reason  urged  why  William  should  interest  himself  in  the  project, 
was  that  it  promised  protection  to  Holland  by  preventing  the  union 
or  alliance  between  England  and  France  which  must  follow  the 
overthrow  of  the  Church  of  England.*  it  was  finally  decided  to 
invite  William  to  come  over  to  England ;  he  demurred  at  first,  but 
finally  yielded,  upon  being  assured  that  his  wife  had  readily 
promised  to  surrender  the  supreme  authority  to  him  in  the  event  of 
her  reaching  the  throne. 

Arrangements  for  the  invasion  of  England  were  speedily  per- 
fected, and  a  succession  of  fortunate  circumstances  enabled  William 
to  land  at  Torbay,  in  the  south  of  England,  on  the  5th  day  of 
November,  1688.f  Englishmen  of  rank  and  influence  now  hastened 
to  join  him,  and  his  march  to  London  was  one  continuous  ovation. 

At  the  time  of  the  accession  of  James  II  to  the  throne,  Lord 
Coote  quitted  England  for  the  Continent,  where  he  remained 
for  several  years.  The  important  services  rendered  by  his  family 
to  Charles  II,  made  him  well  known  at  court,  and  his  prolonged 
absence  was  remarked.  Displeased  and  possibly  disturbed  by  it, 
for  the  King  knew  that  he  was  a  .staunch  protestant,  James  issued 
an  order  on  the  '22d  of  November,  lh'sy,  peremptorily  command- 
ing his  return  under  pain  of  proscription.  Thus  admonished,  Lord 
Coote  came  back  to  England  the  same  year,  and  the  followiug  year 
entered  Parliament. 

A  prominent  Whig,  Lord  Coote  was  one  of  the  principal 
leaders  in  the  movement  to  establish  the  Protestant  succession ; 


*  Trevor's  Life  of  William  LIL. 

\  Clavis  Calendaria.    Vol.  II,  p.  229. 


10 


LIFE   AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


and  when  it  became  known  that  the  Prince  of  Orange  had  accepted 
the  invitation  of  the  bishops  and  nobles  to  come  into  England,  he 
was  among  the  first  who  hastened  to  welcome  him.  WilHiam 
received  him  cordially,  and  immediately  appointed  him  to  a  position 
near  his  person.  A  few  weeks  after  William  and  Mary  were  seated 
on  the  throne,  he  was  appointed  Treasurer  and  Receiver  General  to 
the  Queen.  Pleasing  in  person  and  manner,  sensible  and  honest, 
he  became  a ,  warm  personal  friend  of  the  King.  In  consequence 
he  incurred  the  severe  displeasure  of  James,  now  a  fugitive  in 
Ireland,  and  on  the  assembling  of  the  Jacobite  Parliament  at  Dublin, 
he  was  attainted.  Being  an  Irish  peer  this  was  a  serious  matter, 
as  it  involved  the  confiscation  of  whatever  property  he  possessed 
in  Ireland.  On  the  other  hand,  this  mark  of  the  fallen  monarch's 
displeasure  served  to  increase  the  regard  in  which  he  was  held  by 
William  ;  and  in  evidence  of  this  he  was  created  Earl  of  Bellomont, 
by  Royal  Letters  issued  on  the  2d  of  November,  1689 ;  he  also 
received  other  and  more  substantial  marks  of  the  royal  favor. 

Early  in  the  year  1695,  William  thought  tit  to  name  the  Earl 
of  Bellomont  to  be  Governor  of  New  York.  At  this  period  affairs 
in  the  American  colonies  were  in  a  most  unsatisfactory  condition 
to  the  English  government.  The  alarming  increase  of  piracy, 
which  threatened  to  drive  all  commerce  from  the  seas,  and  an 
"unlawful  trade  in  fraud  of  the  acts  of  Navigation  and  Plantations, 
infinitely  prejudicial  to  England,"  were  two  of  the  most  serious 
evils,  and  called  for  immediate  repression.  The  presence  at  New 
York,  "a  place  remarkably  infected  with  those  two  dangerous 
diseases,"  of  a  Governor  of  an  unusually  strong  will  and  honesty  of 
character,  was  imperatively  demanded.  In  this  emergency  the 
King  settled  upon  his  trusted  friend  Bellomont,  who  more  than  any 
one  about  him  he  felt  confident  possessed  the  necessary  requisites 
for  filling  this  important  position.  In  notifying  Bellomont  of  his 
appointment,  William  remarked  that  "  he  thought  him  a  Man  of 
Resolution  and  Integrity,  and  with  those  qualifications  more  likely 
than  any  other  he  could  think  of  to  put  a  stop  to  that  illegal  Trade, 
and  to  the  growth  of  Piracy  ;  for  which  reason  he  made  choice  of 


KK'IIAKI),    KAKI.   OK  HKI.I.OMOXT. 


11 


him  for  that  Government,  and  for  the  same  reason  intended  to  put 
the  Government  of  Ni  w  England  into  his  hands." 

To  appreciate  fully  the  true  condition  of  the  Northern  American 
colonies  at  the  time  of  Bellomont's  appointment — which  is  desirable 
in  order  to  comprehend  correctly  the  magnitude  of  the  task 
entrusted  to  him — it  is  necessary  to  glance  at  the  causes  that  dur- 
ing the  preceding  fifty  years  or  more  had  been  actively  at  work  in 
developing  this  condition. 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  intolerance 
and  covetousness  of  the  Puritan  settlers  in  America  had  nearly  cost 
Holland  her  colony  on  the  Hudson  River,  Cromwell  having  been 
induced,  through  the  representations  of  the  aggressive  New 
Englanders,  to  take  steps  to  conquer  New  Xetherland.  Although 
the  Treaty  of  1653  interfered  with  this  project — the  Protector  in 
this  Treaty  admitting  the  territorial  rights  of  the  Dutch — it  did  so 
for  a  short  time  only.  When  Charles  II  was  restored  to  the 
English  throne,  the  boundary  lines  between  New  England  and  New 
Xetherland  were  still  unsettled.  In  1662,  Connecticut  secured  a 
patent  from  the  English  government,  conveying  to  it  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  province  occupied  by  the  Dutch ;  and  to  enforce  this 
unjust  grant  even  went  so  far  as  to  send  troops  to  drive  out  the 
inhabitants  and  take  possession. 

The  enmity  to  the  Dutch  was  not,  however,  confined  to  the 
English  in  America.  The  British  government,  jealous  of  the  com- 
mercial success  of  Holland,  passed  the  most  stringent  laws  prohibit- 
ing foreign  vessels  trading  with  the  English  colonies.  These  laws 
failed  to  produce  the  desired  result  in  America,  and  finally  it  was 
determined  to  usurp  Xew  Xetherland. 

At  the  instigation  of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  then  Prime 
Minister,  Charles  II,  in  1664,  granted  to  his  brother  -lames,  the 
Duke  of  York,  a  large  portion  of  American  territory  including 
Xew  Xetherland,  to  which,  as  is  well  known,  he  had  not  the 
faintest  shadow  of  a  rightful  claim.  At  this  time  the  Duke  of 
York  was  Chief  Director  of  the  British  East  India  Company,  and 


12  LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 

I 

was  desirous  of  pushing  its  interests  against  the  rival  Dutch  Com- 
pany ;  he  was  also  Lord  High  Admiral  of  England,  and  as  such  had 
supreme  command  of  the  British  Navy. 

The  unwearied  industry  and  patient  endurance  of  the  Dutch 
had  enabled  them  to  gain  possession  of  such  an  important  foreign 
trade,  that  the  English  were  obliged  to  bestir  themselves  in  order 
to  master  this  successful  rivalry.  Public  sentiment  in  Great  Bri- 
tain had  been  assiduously  worked  up  to  a  hatred  of  the  Dutch,  and 
at  last  Parliament  prayed  the  King  to  take  measures  "  to  redress  the 
wrongs  done  to  His  Majesty  by  the  subjects  of  the  United  Pro- 
vinces." *  Here  was  an  opportunity  for  the  young  and  ambitious 
Duke  of  York.  War  seemed  imminent ;  but  without  waiting  for 
the  storm-  to  burst,  James  who  found  his  arbitrary  measures  in 
pushing  the  interests  of  the  English  Company  "  twarted  by  vessels 
of  war  belonging  to  the  Dutch  Republic,  secretly  despatched  a 
squadron  under  Sir  Robert  Holmes,  to  make  reprisals  on  the  Hol- 
landers, who  had,  he  believed,  broken  the  treaty  they  had  entered 
into  with  the  English."  f  Holmes  proceeded  directly  to  Africa, 
and  after  some  success  against  the  Dutch  settlements  on  the  coast, 
returned  to  England.  Thence  with  a  fleet  consisting  of  four  ves- 
sels of  war,  having  on  board  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  the 
Duke  of  York  under  authority  of  the  Privy  Council,  and  a  force 
of  four  hundred  and  fifty  soldiers,  he  sailed  to  North  America, 
leaving  Portsmouth,  England,  early  in  May,  1064:;  and  arrived  at 
Boston,  "  after  a  tedious  voyage  of  ten  weeks. "J  By  the  middle 
of  August,  the  English,  in  imposing  force,  presented  themselves  be- 
fore New  Amsterdam.  It  was  madness  for  the  Dutch  inhabitants 
to  think  of  defending  the  city,  as  the  Fort  had  been  constructed 
solely  with  a  view  to  protecting  them  from  an  inland  attack,  and 
was  useless  against  ships  of  war.  Besides  this,  the  Dutch  fleet  was 
absent  from  the  North  American  waters,  and  its  succor  could  not 
be  expected.    The  regular  attacking  force  of  English,  which  alone 


*  Davies'  Hist,  of  Holland. 

\  Cust's  Lives  of  the  IVarriors.  Vol.  II,  p.  482. 
\  Brodhead's  Commemorative  Address,  p.  26. 


RICHARD,  KARI.  OF  BRLLOMONT. 


13 


outnumbered  the  Dutch  garrison,  was  largely  increased  by  aux- 
iliaries from  Connecticut  and  tlie  eastern  end  of  Long  Island,  a 
number  of  whom  were  savages.* 

The  brave  old  Stuyvesant  mustered  his  small  force,  and  pre- 
pared for  the  defence  ;  but  the  people  of  the  city,  more  prudent 
though  no  less  brave,  finally  persuaded  him  that  it  was  his  duty  to 
surrender,  and  the  veteran  was  forced  to  yield,  although  he  sorrow- 
fully declare  he  "  had  much  rather  be  carried  out  dead."+ 

Colonel  Richard  Xicolls,  wbo  was  the  Duke's  companion  in 
exile,  and  had  come  over  in  the  expedition  commanded  by  Sir  Robert 
Holmes  and  Sir  Robert  Carr,  as  Deputy  Governor  of  the  new 
Province,  now  assumed  the  administration  of  affairs  :  he  re-named 
the  city  "  Xew  York,"  in  honor  of  his  royal  master,  and  later, 
having  subjected  Fort  Orange,  up  the  Hudson,  gave  to  that  place 
the  name  of  "  Albany,"  after  a  Scotch  title  of  James. 

It  is  unnecessary  here  to  enter  into  details  regarding  the  rule 
of  the  Duke  of  York  in  the  newly  acquired  province.  Towards 
the  close  of  the  year  ltWU,  the  City  of  Xew  York  was  incorporated. 
The  Governor  and  Council  exercised  almost  despotic  sway  through- 
out the  province,  the  inhabitants  of  which  bad  nothing  approxi- 
mating even  to  political  liberty.  Harshness  was  the  rale  of  the 
administration,  and  grinding  taxation  the  method  resorted  to  to 
enslave  the  people. 

In  1<»72  the  States  of  Holland  and  Zealand  raised  William, 
Prince  of  Orange,  to  the  office  of  Stadtholder.  Louis  XIY  now 
sought  to  inflame  the  ambition  of  William  by  offering  to  make 
him  sovereign  of  the  United  Provinces  under  French  and  English 
protection  ;  but  the  latter  was  proof  against  these  offers  ;  and  to 
the  remarks  of  the  English  ambassadors,  that  if  he  rejected  them 
he  would  behold  the  ruin  of  his  country,  he  replied  :  "  I  have 


*  James  W.  Gerard. 

f  Dunlap's  Hist,  of  the  New  A'ether/ands,  Province  of  New  York  and  State  of 
New  York,  to  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 


14 


LTFTC   ANT)  ADMINISTRATION  (IF 


thought  of  a  means  to  avoid  beholding  the  ruin  of  my  country  to 
die  in  the  last  ditch."  * 

At  length  Charles  II,  urged  on  by  the  King  of  France,  opened 
hostilities  against  the  Dutch.  The  opportunity  now  presenting 
itself  to  reconquer  New  Netherland,  which  had  been  so  unjustly 
seized  by  the  English,  in  1664,  the  Dutch  despatched  a  squadron 
of  five  war  ships,  under  the  brave  commodores  Benkes  and  Evert- 
sen,  to  New  York.  On  arriving  in  the  bay,  Benkes  and  Evertsen 
sent  a  formal  demand  for  the  surrender  of  the  city  ;  and  on  the 
30th  of  July,  ( 1aptain  Manning,  in  command  of  the  English  gar- 
rison of  the  Fort,  surrendered  to  the  Dutch  fleet  without  striking  a 
blow.  Having  taken  possession  the  conquerers  changed  the  name 
of  the  city  to  "  New  Orange,"  and  appointed  Captain  Anthony 
Colve — who  came  over  with  the  expedition — Governor.  The 
greater  part  of  the  population  being  Dutch,  the  new  regime  was 
heartily  welcomed ;  and  the  officers  and  magistrates  of  the  Province 
willingly  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  States  General  and  the 
Prince  of  Orange. 

The  wonderful  successes  of  the  intrepid  Dutch  admirals,  De 
Ruyter  and  Tromp,  eventually  compelled  the  English  to  withdraw 
their  fleets  from  the  coast  of  Holland,  where  they  seemed  to  obtain 
the  least  permanent  advantage  ;  and  as  they  retreated,  the  coura- 
geous Dutch  went  so  far  as  to  follow  in  pursuit.  The  people  of 
England  were  maddened  by  these  inglorious  proceedings,  and  a 
strong  feeling  grew  up  against  the  French  alliance,  it  being  openly 
asserted  that  Louis  was  using  the  English  for  the  gratification  of 
his  own  ambitious  designs.  Another  circumstance  that  greatly 
influenced  public  opinion  in  favor  of  peace,  was  the  frightful 
ravages  made  by  the  privateers  of  Zealand  upon  the  English  mer- 
chant marine.  Added  to  this,  Spain  and  Norway,  taking  alarm  at 
the  plan  of  conquest  pursued  by  the  French  monarch,  assumed  a 
threatening  attitude.  Ever  zealous  of  their  commercial  prosperity, 
and  foreseeing  that  in  the  event  of  a  war  with  these  powers,  their 


*  Davies  History  of  Holland. 


RICHAKD,  KAKI.  OF  BELLOMONT. 


15 


trade  must  inevitably  be  transferred  to  the  United  Provinces,  the 
people  of  England  became  so  strongly  opposed  to  the  continuance 
of  hostilities,  that  Parliament  refused  to  vote  further  supplies,  com- 
plained of  the  French  alliance,  and  advised  peace. 

Charles  II  reluctantly  yielded  to  the  suggestions  of  Parliament, 
and  calling  Sir  William  Temple  from  his  retirement,  deputed  him 
to  arrange  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Marquis  del  Fresno,  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  who  had  been  empowered  by  the  States  to  act 
in  their  name.  The  treaty  was  signed  at  Westminster,  on  the  9th 
of  February,  L674,  and  was  considered  by  the  Dutch  greatly  to 
their  advantage,  despite  the  fact  that  it  cost  them  a  war  indemnity 
to  England  of  two  million  guilders,  and  all  the  British  territory 
they  had  conquered  during  hostilities.  New  York  thus  fell  back 
under  the  English  flag,  and  passed  again  into  the  possession  of  the 
Duke  of  York.  On  the  31st  of  October,  1671,  Governor  Colve 
formally  resigned  the  Territory  to  "  Edmund  Andross,  Seigneur  of 
Saumarez,"  who  had  been  appointed  Governor. 

A  circumstance  occurred  during  the  first  year  of  the  reoccu- 
pation  of  New  York  by  the  English,  which  though  slight  in  itself, 
was  in  some  degree  the  precursor  of  the  important  though  unhappy 
events  that  took  place  about  fifteen  years  later,  the  settlement  of 
the  animosities  growing  out  of  which,  formed  so  difficult  a  part  of 
the  labors  of  the  administration  of  the  Earl  of  Bellomont.  This 
circumstance  arose  from  the  Duke  of  York  recommending  the 
Rev.  Nicholas  Van  Kensaellaer  "to  be  Minister  of  one  of  the 
Dutch  churches  in  New  York  or  New  Albany  when  a  vacancy  shall 
happen."*  Mr.  Aran  Kensaellaer,  it  seems,  chose  a  church  in 
Albany,  and  went  thither  to  assume  his  duties.  At  the  same  time  he 
laid  claim  to  a  large  tract  of  land  extending  "  twenty -four  miles 
upon  Hudson's  River  and  as  many  on  each  side."+  He  was  un-. 
successful  in  making  good  his  claim  to  this  land,  being  defeated  in 
the  courts  by  Kilian  Van  Kensaellaer.  The  congregation  of  the 
Dutch  church  at  Albany  refused  to  receive  him  as  their  minister 


*  Duke  of  York  to  Governor  Andros,  23  July,  1674. 
■f  History  of  Neiu  York,  by  Chief  Justice  Smith. 


L6 


LIKE   AND  ADMINISTRATIS  >N  OF 


on  the  ground  that  he  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  ;  and  as  Mr.  Van  Rensaellaer  persisted  in  his  claims  and 
assumptions,  they  put  forward  their  pastor,  Dominic  Xiewenhuyt, 
as  their  champion.  Governor  Andros,  of  course,  as  in  duty  bound, 
supported  the  claims  of  the  clergyman  recommended  by  his  master, 
and  Dominic  Xiewenhuyt  was  subjected  to  great  annoyance  by 
being  obliged  to  make  frequent  visits  to  New  York  to  confer  with 
the  authorities.  The  magistrates  and  the  people  of  Albany  sym- 
pathized warmly  with  Xiewenhuyt,  and  went  so  far  as  to  imprison 
Van  Eensaellaer,  for  "dubious  words"  uttered  in  one  of  his  ser- 
mons. By  order  of  Andros,  however,  he  was  released,  and  a  suit 
for  false  imprisonment  was  brought  against  the  magistrates  who 
had  been  concerned  in  his  arrest,  they  being  held  in  £5000  bail.  One 
of  these  magistrates,  named  Jacob  Leisler,  more  bold  than  the  rest, 
refused  to  give  bail,  and  in  consequence  was  imprisoned.  But  the 
people  of  Albany  persisted  in  upholding  the  action  of  their  ma- 
gistrates, and  finally  the  suit  was  abandoned. 

This  successful  protest  of  the  Dutch  Protestants  against  the 
policy  of  the  Duke  of  York,  doubtless  prompted  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Province  to  the  steps  which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the 
provisional  government  under  Leisler,  in  HiS9-90. 

The  prominence  subsequently  gained  by  Leisler  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Province,  warrants  a  reference  to  his  career,  which  I  venture  to 
present  in  a  few  words. 

On  the  27th  of  April,  1660,  the  ship  "Otter"  left  Holland  for 
New  Xetherland,  having  on  board  some  fifty  passengers,  sixteen  of 
Avhom  were  soldiers  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Com- 
pany. One  of  these  soldiers  was  a  young  German  named  Jacob 
Loyseler  or  Leisler,  who  was  registered  as  from  "  Francfort."  * 
The  inducements  to  engage  in  trade  at  that  early  period  were 
peculiarly  tempting  to  young  men  of  energy  and  ambition;  and 
yielding  to  them,  Leisler  ere  long  gave  up  his  military  career  and 
entered  the  employment  of  Pieter  Cornelisen  Vanderveen,  a  pros- 


*  Documentary  Nisi,  of  N.  Y.    Vol.  Ill,  p.  57. 


KICMAKI),  KAKI.  OK   B K I. LOMONT. 


17 


perous  Dutch  merchant  of  that  day,  who  was  the  principal  pro- 
jector of  the  first  three-masted  vessel  known  to  have  been  built  in 
the  Colony. 

The  death  of  Vanderveen  took  place  in  1661,  and  his  large 
estate  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  young  and  childless  widow,  who 
was  the  daughter  of  Govert  Loockermans,  a  wealthy  fur-trader  and 
shipowner,  who  came  to  this  colony  in  1633.  Elsie  Tymen  Van- 
derveen was  horn  in  Hanover  Square,  her  father  at  the  time  residing 
in  and  owning  one  of  the  handsomest  and  best  houses  in  the  city. 
On  the  death  of  her  husband  she  continued  his  business,  as  was  the 
custom  of  the  day,  and  Leisler,  who  had  now  risen  to  a  responsible 
position  in  Vanderveen's  store,  was  entrusted  with  the  management 
of  affairs.  Finally,  an  attachment  having  sprung  up  between  the 
comely  young  widow  and  the  soldierly  young  clerk,  they  were  mar- 
ried, Leisler  thus  becoming  a  wealthy  merchant.  lie  appears  to 
have  been  a  person  of  more  than  ordinary  consideration  in  the 
Colony  from  a  very  early  period.  In  1074,  during  the  administration 
of  Governor  Colve,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Commissioners  for 
the  forced  loan ;  and  in  Governor  Dongan's  time  was  one  of  the 
Commissioners  of  a  Court  of  Admiralty.  Several  years  latter  he 
purchased  for  the  Huguenots  the  tract  called  New  Rochelle.  Dur- 
ing a  voyage  to  Europe,  in  1678,  he  had  the  misfortune  to  be  cap- 
tured by  the  Turks,  but  obtained  his  release  by  the  payment  of  some 
two  thousand  "  pieces  of  eight, "  at  five  shillings  each. 

We  have  just  seen  that  he  was  once  a  magistrate  of  Albany, 
and  prominently  connected  with  the  Dutch  Church  in  that  city. 
At  a  later  period  he  was  a  resident  of  New  York ;  and  at  the 
breaking  out  of  the  revolution,  in  1689,  commanded  one  of  the  local 
militia  companies.  Few  residents  of  the  city  were  more  popular, 
and  it  was  to  him  the  people  looked  for  leadership  when  they  rose 
to  hold  the  Province  for  the  officers  of  William  III. 

As  shown  by  the  baptismal  records,  Leisler  had  seven  children. 
The  eldest  of  these,  Mary,  became  the  wife  of  Jacob  Milborne, 
who  was  associated  with  Leisler  in  the  provisional  government  of 
New  York,  in  1H89-91,  and  who  finally  perished  with  him  on  the 


18  LIFE  AM)  ADMINISTRATION  OF 

scaffold.  The  third  child,  Jacob  Leisler,  Jr.,  distinguished  himself 
by  his  persistent  and  successful  endeavors  to  secure  the  reversal  of 
the  decree  of  attainder  on  his  father  and  brother-in-law ;  and 
notwithstanding  his  youth,  was  an  important  figure  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Colony  in  his  day. 

When  the  Duke  of  York  came  to  the  throne,  his  interest  in 
the  Province  of  New  York  suffered  no  diminution,  although  the 
welfare  of  the  Province  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  been  advanced 
thereby.  One  of  Ins  first  acts  was  to  disapprove  of  the  Charter  of 
Privileges  which  he  had  granted  shortly  before,  but  which  he  now 
refused  to  confirm,  deeming  its  provisions  too  liberal,  and  fearing 
they  might  curtail  some  of  his  own  rights.  One  beneficent  measure, 
however,  did  receive  his  sanction.  This  was  the  granting  to  the 
City  of  Xew  York,  in  1686,  of  the"Dongan  Charter,"  so-called 
from  the  fact  that  it  was  obtained  mainly  through  the  influence  of 
Oovernor  Dongan. 

The  alarm  caused  throughout  Europe  by  the  Revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  X antes  in  li>S.">,  eventually  spread  to  America.  In 
New  York,  fears  were  entertained  that  the  Catholic  King  of 
England,  who  seemed  to  be  quietly  instituting  measures  for  the 
revival  of  Catholicity  at  home,  would  possibly  instruct  Governor 
Dongan,  likewise  a  ( 'atholic,  to  establish  that  religion  in  the 
Province  over  which  he  governed.  A  further  cause  for  dissatisfaction 
in  New  York  was  afforded  by  the  consolidation  of  all  the  English 
Provinces  north  of  the  fortieth  degree  of  latitude  (with  the  exception 
of  Pennsylvania)  under  one  government.  This  measure  was  resolved 
on  by  James,  chiefly  as  an  effective  means  to  check  the  growing 
influence  of  New  France  (as  Canada  was  then  called),  which  was 
regarded  with  extreme  jealousy  by  the  English. 

This  compulsory  union  of  New  York  and  Massachusetts  under 
one  governor,  was  extremely  distasteful  to  the  Dutch  inhabitants 
of  the  former  Province,  between  whom  and  the  people  of  New 
England  there  had  always  existed  a  somewhat  serious  rivalry.  As 
Protestants,  however,  their  angry  feelings  were  somewhat  mollified 
by  the  appointment  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros — a  member  of  the 


RICHARD,  EARL  OF  TiKI.I.OMONT. 


19 


Church  of  England — to  administer  the  government  of  the  united 
provinces. 

The  continued  efforts  of  James  to  force  the  Catholic  faith 
upon  the  English  people,  culminated,  as  is  well  known,  in  the  Revo- 
lution ItiSS-!),  which  led  to  his  abdication  and  the  election  of 
William  and  Mary  as  his  successors. 

On  the  accession  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  to  the  throne,  the 
Protestants  in  New  Fork  and  New  England,  comprising  nearly  the 
entire  population,  were  greatly  alarmed  lest  the  officers  holding 
their  commissions  from  .lames,  and  the  adherents  of  that  monarch 
in  gereral  might  attempt  to  maintain  his  authority  in  the  American 
colonies,  to  the  exclusion  of  that  of  the  newly  elected  sovereigns. 
To  anticipate  any  action  towards  such  a  design,  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  holding  the  colonies  in  safety  until  the  arrival  of  the  prop- 
erly accredited  officers  from  King  William,  a  popular  uprising  took 
place.  In  New  England  a  Committee  of  Safety  was  organized,  and 
under  its  order  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  the  Governor  of  the  Colony, 
whose  headquarters  were  at  Boston,  was  seized  and  imprisoned.  In 
New  York,  where  the  great  body  of  the  peojde  were  Dutch,  the 
elevation  of  a  Dutch  prince  to  the  English  throne  was  hailed  with 
undisguised  delight.  Moreover,  being  heartily  sick  of  the  continued 
outrages  perpetrated  upon  them  during  the  administrations  of  the 
English  Governors,  who  had  little  regard  for  their  rights,  they 
naturally  looked  upon  their  countryman.  Prince  William,  as  their 
heaven-sent  deliverer. 

Without  the  shedding  of  a  drop  of  blood,  the  City  of  New 
York  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  militia.  The  Captains  com- 
manding the  several  companies,  were  fortunately  men  of  wealth, 
character  and  influence,  and  so  controlled  the  people  that  no  overt 
acts  were  committed.  Lieutenant-Governor  Nicholson,  who  resided 
in  New  York,  finding  himself  powerless  to  maintain  his  authority, 
left  the  nominal  administration  of  affairs  in  the  hands  of  his  Coun- 
cillors, Philipse,  Van  ( 'ortlandt  and  Bayard,  and  sailed  for  England. 

Before  his  departure,  however,  the  militia  had  made  them- 
selves masters  of  the  Fort,    Having  gone  thus  far,  the  need  of  a 


20  LIFE   AND   ADMINISTRATION  OF 

leader  became  apparent.  The  militia  and  the  people  in  general, 
unanimously  settled  on  Captain  Jacob  Leisler  as  the  person  for  this 
position ;  and,  in  accordance  with  their  desires,  he  assumed  the 
leadership.  Almost  his  first  act  was  to  call  a  convention  of  citizens, 
which  met  on  the  26th  of  June,  1689.  This  body  was  composed 
of  men  of  representative  character,  a  number  of  whom  were  resi- 
dents of  the  neighboring  towns.  A  Committee  of  Safety  was  or- 
ganized, which  appointed  Leisler  "  Captain  of  the  Fort,"  and  sub- 
sequently "Lieutenant-Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Province." 

It  is  needless  to  add  that  Leisler  was  immensely  popular,  and 
that  this  popularity  greatly  simplified  his  early  labors.  The  Dutch 
residents  of  the  Province  had  the  greatest  confidence  in  his  abilities, 
and  had  little  if  any  fault  to  find  with  the  measures  he  adopted. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  was  an  object  of  hatred  to  the  officers  of 
James,  and  to  their  aristocratic  English  and  Dutch  friends. 

Leisler  called  to  his  assistance  in  the  provisional  government 
an  old  friend  and  former  business  associate  named  Jacob  Milborne, 
whom  he  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Province.  These  two  per- 
sons, aided  by  a  Council,  administered  the  government  of  the 
Province  about  two  years ;  and  the  impartial  historian  must  admit 
that  whatever  faults  may  be  ascribed  to  them,  disloyalty  to  King 
William  was  not  among  the  number. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  spring  of  1691,  Colonel  Sloughter, 
who  had  been  commissioned  Governor  of  New  York,  in  January, 
lf)90,  arrived  at  his  post.  He  immediately  published  his  Commis- 
sion, and  sent  a  command  to  Leisler  to  deliver  up  the  Fort.  This 
order  reached  Leisler  several  hours  after  sundown,  but  regarding  it 
as  a  violation  of  military  rule  to  give  up  a  fortified  place  during 
the  night,  he  refused  compliance.  The  next  morning,  however, 
he  sent  a  letter  to  the  new  Governor,  formally  relinquishing  the 
Fort.  Colonel  Sloughter  was  deeply  angered  at  this  delay,  and 
gave  orders  for  the  immediate  arrest  of  Leisler  and  his  principal 
followers.  Their  trial  speedily  followed,  and  as  they  were  found 
guilty  of  treason,  sentence  of  death  was  passed  upon  them.  An 


1MCHAKD,    F.ARI.  OK  HKI.I.OMOHT. 


21 


appeal  from  this  verdict  and  sentence  was  sent  to  the  King1,  but  be- 
fore a  reply  could  reach  New  York,  Sloughter  was  prevailed  on  to 
sign  the  death-warrants  of  Leister  and  Milborne,  and  they  were 
accordingly  publicly  executed  on  the  1  7th  day  of  May,  L691. 

Governor  Sloughter  did  not  long  survive  this  political  tragedy. 
He  was  taken  suddenly  ill  on  the  21st  of  July  following,  and  died 
on  the  23d. 

Sloughter  was  succeeded  by  Colonel  Benjamin  Fletcher,  under 
whom  the  affairs  of  the  Province  became  still  more  perplexing  to 
the  Home  Government.  The  ill-feeling  between  the  Dutch  and 
English  residents,  always  more  or  less  bitter,  was  intensified  by  the 
execution  of  Leisler  and  Milborne,  who  were  now  quite  generally 
regarded  as  heroes  and  martyrs.  Strong  efforts  were  made  to  have 
justice  done  to  the  memory  of  the  unfortunate  men,  and  to  cause 
the  restoration  to  their  families  of  their  confiscated  property  ;  and 
for  this  purpose  Jacob  Leisler,  Jr.,  the  promising  son  of  the 
executed  Lieutenant-Governor,  was  sent  to  England  to  endeavor  to 
influence  the  Home  Government.  Another  cause  of  trouble  was 
persistent  violation  of  the  Acts  of  Trade,  which,  though  secretly 
and  quite  successfully  evaded  in  the  neighboring  provinces,  were 
disregarded  almost  openly  and  without  scruple,  by  the  Dutch  in 
New  York.  The  consequence  was  a  serious  falling  off  in  the 
revenue — a  most  unpalatable  fact  for  the  Lords  of  Trade. 

But  the  most  alarming  evil,  was  the  aid  and  comfort  afforded 
to  pirates  by  many  of  the  well-to-do  citizens  of  New  York,  and 
connived  at,  it  was  said,  even  by  the  officers  of  the  Colonial 
government. 

The  origin  of  piracy  dates  back  to  the  dawn  of  commercial 
enterprise.  In  the  century  preceding  the  Christian  era,  the  evil 
had  attained  the  most  gigantic  proportions.  The  freebooters  were 
masters  of  four  hundred  cities,  and  had  at  their  command  a  thou- 
sand well-manned  galleys.  So  boldly,  successfully,  and  extensively 
did  they  carry  out  their  depredations,  that  the  prosperity  of  imperial 
Rome  became  seriously  jeopardized.  The  extirpation  of  this  mon- 
strous evil  became  an  urgent  necessity,  and  to  no  less  a  personage 


^1 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


than  the  great  Pompey  was  entrusted  the  task.  Armed  with  almost 
absolute  authority  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  with  a  large  army  and 
powerful  fleet  at  his  command,  lie  eventually  succeeded  in  accom- 
plishing this  important  labor.  This  blow  may  be  said  to  have 
almost  paralyzed  piracy  for  about  fourteen  centuries.  The  growth 
of  trade  with  the  East  and  West  Indies  consequent  on  the  brilliant 
discoveries  of  the  daring  navigators  Colombus,  Diaz,  and  de  (lama, 
in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  again  awakened  the 
cupidity  of  evil  men,  and  piracy  was  revived  and  prosecuted  as  a 
"  royal  Toad"  to  fortune.  In  the  seventeenth  century,  its  magni- 
tude and  extent  excited  the  gravest  alarm  throughout  the  commer- 
cial world.  The  practice  of  issuing  commissions  to  private  vessels 
of  war  was  common  among  the  nations  of  Europe  in  this  century. 
The  commanders  of  these  "  privateers "  were  not,  however,  over- 
scrupulous in  their  regard  for  the  rights  of  commerce  ;  and  although 
for  a  time  they  generally  limited  their  depredations  to  the  merchant- 
ships  of  the  enemy,  they  soon  came  to  regard  all  vessels  engaged  in 
commerce  as  their  legitimate  prey. 

During  the  progress  of  hostilities  with  France,  England  had 
not  hesitated  to  follow  the  example  of  other  nations  in  granting 
commissions  to  private  vessels  of  war.  The  commanders  of  many 
of  these  "  privateers "  encouraged  by  the  success  which  attended 
the  reckless  and  daring  men  who,  acknowledging  allegiance  to  no 
flag,  preyed  indiscriminately  on  all  commerce ;  and  observing  the 
singular  immunity  from  interference  and  punishment  which  they 
enjoyed,  concluded  to  follow  their  example.  Breaking  away  from 
the  restraint  of  their  commissions,  they  now  waged  war  on  all 
vessels  that  promised' booty,  not  even  exempting  those  sailing  under 
the  flag  of  their  own  country. 

The  effect  upon  commerce  of  this  course,  which  so  largely 
increased  the  number  of  freebooters,  and  covered  the  high  seas 
with  piratical  craft,  was  most  disastrous :  trade  in  both  hemispheres 
was  almost  paralyzed ;  and  England,  ever  a  trading  nation,  was 
threatened  whith  the  loss  of  that  which  has  been  aptly  compared 
to  her  life-blood.    This  alarming  state  of  affairs  became  still  worse 


RICHARD,   KARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


23 


from  a  threat  of  reprisals  made  by  the  Grand  Mogul,  who  had  lost, 
through  the  depredations  of  English  pirates,  several  richly  laden 
vessels,  among  them  one  in  particular  freighted  with  valuable 
presents  for  the  holy  city — Mecca. 

The  American  colonies  were  a  favorite  resort  for  the  English 
pirates  for  several  reasons,  but  principally  owing  to  the  sense  of 
security  enjoyed,  and  the  ease  witli  which  provisions  were  obtained. 
It  was  well-known  that  several  of  the  most  notorious  pirates  had 
originally  sailed  from  New  York  with  commissions  as  privateers  ; 
and  it  was  even  rumored  that  the  officers  of  the  Crown  had  connived 
at  piracy.  It  is  evident  that  in  those  days  the  people  of  the  Colonies 
felt  no  very  great  antagonism  to  either  pirates  or  piracy.  Many  of 
the  freebooters  plundered  in  foreign  parts,  and  their  victims  were 
frequently  infidel  Moors,  or  hated  French,  Spanish,  or  Portuguese 
traders.  The  advantages  derived  from  a  connection  with  these 
ocean  plunderers  were  almost  too  great  to  be  despised ;  wherever 
the  freebooters  touched,  from  Maine  to  Virginia,  they  were  gene- 
rally sure  of  being  tolerated — at  least  till  they  had  disposed  of  some 
of  their  plunder  and  obtained  supplies.  In  commercial  New  York, 
their  foreign  gold  was  ever  welcome.  But,  large  as  was  the  supply, 
it  did  not  suffice.  More  than  one  of  the  wealthy  merchants  of  the 
city  freighted  vessels  with  rum,  tobacco,  and  munitions  of  war,  and 
despatched  them  to  the  haunts  of  the  pirates,  where  these  com- 
modities readily  sold  at  an  enormous  profit.  This  was  not  all. 
Many  of  the  pirates  at  the  places  visited,  having  acquired  sufficient 
wealth  to  meet  their  desires,  abandoned  their  bloody  pursuit  and 
returned  to  civilization  in  the  homeward-bound  merchant  vessels, 
paying  round  sums  for  their  passages. 

The  looseness  of  morals  in  this  respect  in  the  American  colonies 
— and  particularly  in  New  York — at  last  aroused  attention  in 
England,  and  the  government  resolved  to  take  some  decisive  action 
against  the  growing  evil.  At  this  time  the  Leislerites  in  England — 
among  whom  was  Jacob  Leisler,  Jr.,  the  son  of  the  executed  Gov- 
ernor— were  making  strong  efforts  to  secure  the  removal  of  Governor 
Fletcher,  whose  close  affiliation  with  and  willing  subservience  to 


'24 


LIFE   AM)   ADMINISTRATION'  OF 


the  aristocratic  party  in  New  York,  seriously  retarded  the  attempts 
of  the  friends  of  Leisler  and  Milborne  to  secure  justice  to  the 
memory  of  these  political  martyrs,  or  to  obtain  for  their  families 
the  restitution  of  their  confiscated  property.  They  had  already 
failed  in  their  attempt  to  secure  Fletcher's  removal  on  charges  of 
misappropriation  of  the  public  money  and  general  malfeasance  in 
office,  but  these  charges  had  not  been  treated  seriously  by  the  Lords 
of  Trade,  in  whose  mind  the  valuable  services  rendered  by  Fletcher 
in  the  war  with  the  French  in  Canada,  were  still  fresh. 

Availing  themselves  of  the  public  sentiment  against  free- 
booting,  the  Leislerites  now  accused  Fletcher  of  complicity  with 
pirates.  All  that  they  urged  against  him  seemed  to  have  a  strong 
basis  in  fact,  and  it  was  finally  decided  by  the  authorities  that  the 
interests  of  the  public  service  demanded  his  recall. 

Never  was  the  need  for  an  honest  and  able  person  to  admin- 
ister the  government  of  New  York  greater  than  at  that  period. 
The  tasks  which  such  a  person  wonld  be  called  upon  to  perform 
were  those  which  demanded  uncommon  ability  as  well  as  unques- 
tioned integrity.  The  differences  between  the  two  factions  of  the 
Province  required  To  he  healed.  The  Acts  of  Trade  were  to  be 
rigidly  enforced.  Piracy  was  to  be  suppressed.  Besides  these 
labors  the  Indians  were  to  be  conciliated  and  the  French  watched. 

The  King  fully  realized  the  importance  of  the  trust  and  finally 
decided  to  appoint  in  the  place  of  Fletcher,  the  Earl  of  Bellomont, 
whom,  as  I  have  stated,  he  regarded  as  the  fittest  person  about  him 
for  undertaking  such  responsible  duties.  In  1H95  he  indicated  his 
choice  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  who,  without  delay,  confirmed  Bello- 
mont. The  several  commissions  and  instructions  were,  however, 
not  laid  before  the  King  until  the  early  part  of  April,  1697.  On 
the  18th  day  of  June  following,  having  been  duly  approved,  they 
were  sealed  with  the  great  seal.  On  the  1st  of  July,  in  the  same 
year,  Captain  John  Nanfan — a  cousin  of  the  wife  of  the  Earl  of 
Bellomont — was  appointed  Lieutenant-Governor. 

No  sooner  was  it  known  that  the  Earl  of  Bellomont  had  been 
appointed  to  this  important  post,  than  his  house  in  Dover  street, 


i 


IMCllAKD,   EARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


25 


London,  was  besieged  by  all  those  who  had  interests  to  conserve  in 
New  York.  Among  the  number  was  "  ColoTiel  Robert  Livingston, 
a  Man  of  considerable  Estate  and  fair  Reputation  who  has  several 
Employments  in  that  Province  ;"*  he  had  frequent  access  to  the 
Karl  "as  well  upon  the  account  of  the  publick  affairs  there  as  of 
several  matters  which  he  had  then  depending  before  the  Council 
and  at  the  Treasury. "+ 

In  conversation  with  Colonel  Livingston,  the  Earl  mentioned 
piracy,  which  he  regretted  had  received  such  encouragement  in 
New  York.  Livingston  assured  him  that  there  was  good  ground 
for  complaint  on  this  score  ;  and  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  if 
effectual  measures  for  the  suppression  of  this  nefarious  business 
were  not  promptly  instituted,  the  evil  would  increase  to  such  a  de- 
gree and  involve  so  many  persons,  that  its  mastery  would  be  diffi- 
cult if  not  impossible. 

At  a  subsequent  interview  with  the  Earl,  Livingston  spoke  of 
a  Captain  William  Kidd,  "  lately  come  from  New  York  in  a  sloop 
of  his  own  upon  the  account  of  trade,";}:  and  recommended  him  to 
the  Earl  as  a  bold,  honest,  and  skilful  mariner,  who  "  knew  most  of 
the  men  who  had  been  abroad  Roving,  and  divers  who  had  lately 
gone  out  ;  and  likewise  had  some  knowledge  of  places  where  they 
usually  made  their  Rendez-vous  ;"§  he  also  said  that  he  believed 
Kidd  would  undertake  to  seize  these  freebooters  if  placed  in  com- 
mand of  one  of  the  King's  ships  of  war. 

It  was  not  at  all  improbable  that  an  experienced  and  daring 
commander  such  as  was  Kidd,  "  well  acquainted  with  all  the  haunts 
of  the  pirates  who  prowled  between  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and 
the  Straits  of  Malacca  "||  would  be  able  to  cope  successfully  with 
the  pirates  of  the  Indian  Ocean.  It  was  known  that  few  of  the 
piratical  craft  were  large,  and  that  the  pirates  were  not  in  the  habit 
of  uniting  for  common  defence.  Bellomont  was  not  slow  to  per- 
ceive the  advantages  of  such  an  expedition.  The  suppression  of 
piracy  in  the  Eastern  seas  would  greatly  simplify  the  task  of  breaking 


*  Kidd,  +  Kidd. 

|  Macaulay's  Hist,  of  England. 


%  Kidd. 


§  Kidd. 


26 


I.IKE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


it  up  in  the  American  Colonies,  whither  the  freebooters  oftener 
resorted  to  dispose  of  than  to  secure  plunder.  He  accordingly  lost 
no  time  in  laying  the  project  before  the  King. 

Just  at  that  time  it  happened  that  all  the  King's  ships  lit  for 
service  were  employed  in  the  war  with  France.  There  was  also  a 
marked  scarcity  of  seamen,  and  to  keep  the  navy  fairly  manned, 
required  the  employment  of  every  imaginable  means,  including  the 
constant  use  of  the  press-gang. 

The  King  not  feeling  authorized  to  act  on  the  suggestion  of 
Bellomont,  referred  the  project  to  the  Admiralty,  who  received  it 
lukewarmly  and  "  raised  difficulties,"  to  quote  the  expressive  language 
of  Macaulay,  "such  as  are  perpetually  raised  by  public  boards  when 
any  deviation  for  the  better  or  for  the  worse  from  the  established 
course  of  proceeding  is  proposed."*  The  fact  that  the  carrying 
out  of  the  scheme  would  necessitate  the  expenditure  of  a  large  sum 
of  money,  was,  however,  the  chief  reason  for  its  being  finally  rejected. 

On  learning  that  the  Admiralty  would  not  touch  the  project, 
Livingston,  who  seemed  determined  to  carry  it  into  effect,  made  a 
second  proposition  to  Bellomont.  This  was  that  a  private  vessel 
of  war  should  be  fitted  out  and  duly  licensed  and  commissioned  to 
proceed  against  the  French  and  the  pirates.  According  to  the 
testimony  of  Bishop  Burnet,  the  King  looked  with  favor  on  this 
second  project,  the  carrying  out  of  which  it  was  estimated  would 
cost  about  £6000,  and  signified  hi.-  willingness  to  subscribe  one 
third  of  the  sum.  Captain  Kidd  had  meanwhile  been  presented  to 
the  Earl  by  Livingston.  There  is  some  authority  for  the  belief  that 
Kidd  was  coerced  by  threats  into  accepting  the  command  of  the 
proposed  expedition,  but  the  weight  of  testimony  goes  to  show  that 
Kidd  not  only  freely  lent  his  aid  to  the  affair,  but  even  joined  with 
Livingston  in  subscribing  one-fifth  of  the  estimated  cost. 

At  this  juncture  the  King  withdrew  his  offer  on  the  ground  of 
pecuniary  embarrassment.  Some  delay  ensued  in  consequence,  but 
Bellomont  finally  succeeded  in  interesting  his  friends  the  Duke  of 


Hist,  of  England.     Vol.  V. 


RICHARD,   KAMI.  OF  BELLOMONT. 


Shrewsbury,  the  Earl  of  Rumney,  the  Earl  of  Oxford  Lord  High 
Admiral  of  England,  Lord  Chancellor  Somers,  and  Sir  Edmond 
Harrison  a  wealthy  merchant,  who  together  aided  him  in  making 
up  his  subscription  to  four-fifths,  Livingston  and  Kidd,  it  being 
remembered,  having  already  taken  a  fifth. 

Macaulay  states,  in  his  History  of  Engla/nd,  that  the  negotia- 
tions which  resulted  in  the  fitting  out  of  this  expedition,  were 
conducted  between  Bellomont  and  his  friends,  after  the  former  had 
reached  America.  This  is  clearly  an  error  into  which  the  eminent 
historian  fell,  from  a  belief  that  Bellomont  must  have  proceeded  to 
America  as  soon  as  he  received  his  appointment  as  Governor  of  New 
York ;  when  the  facts  are,  that  although  named  to  the  position 
early  in  1695,  he  did  not  receive  his  commission  until  the  summer 
of  1697,  and  did  not  arrive  in  New  York  until  the  spring  of  1698. 

On  the  loth  of  October,  1695,  articles  of  agreement  were 
drawn  up  in  London,  between  the  Earl  of  Bellomont,  Mr.  Living- 
ston, and  Captain  Kidd.  Bellomont  took  it  on  himself  to  procure 
from  the  King  or  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty,  the  necessary  com- 
missions empowering  Kidd  to  act  against  all  pirates.  In  the  agree- 
ment it  was  stipulated  that  all  prizes  taken  from  the  French  should 
be  disposed  of  in  the  usual  way  directed  by  law;  but  that  all  cap- 
tures from  pirates  should  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  owners  and 
crew,  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  gross  proceeds  going  to  the  crew 
in  lieu  of  pay,  the  remaining  seventy-five  per  cent,  to  be  divided 
between  Bellomont,  Livingston,  and  Kidd,  in  proportion  to  their 
contributions.'"' 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  names  of  the  gentlemen  who  aided 
Bellomont  in  raising  the  amount  of  his  subscription  do  not  figure 
in  the  agreement ;  nor  indeed  do  these  gentlemen  appear  to  have 
any  knowledge  of  Kidd,  nor  interest  in  the  undertaking,  beyond 
their  private  and  friendly  aid  to  Bellomont.  It  is  possible,  though, 
that  Bellomont  may  have  promised  to  remunerate  them  by  a  share 
of  the  profits  ;  in  which  case,  the  affair,  to  them,  was  a  purely 

*  Documents  relating  to  the  Colonial  I/iston  of  New  York.  Vol.  VI,  p.  762. 


28 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


speculative  one  ;  moreover,  having  the  sanction  of  the  King,  it  could 
not  have  appeared  in  the  least  degree  objectionable  or  illegal. 

Thus  began  that  unfortunate  connection  between  Bellomont 
and  Kidd,  which  was  destined  to  cast  a  temporary  but  deep  shadow 
over  the  honest  Earl,  and  to  bring  the  adventurous  Captain  to  an 
ignominious  death  upon  the  scaffold. 

The  name  of  Kidd  lias  come  down  to  us  as  that  of  a  most  vil- 
lainous sea-robber,  and  is  linked  with  harrowing  tales  of  bloodshed 
and  murder,  and  legends  of  untold  wealth ;  and  the  reputed  con- 
cealment by  burial  of  much  of  this  ill-gotten  gain  at  various  places 
along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Maine  to  Delaware,  has  for  years 
dazzled  the  imaginations  and  depleted  the  purses  of  the  credulous. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  epithet  "  Prince  of  Pirates," 
and  others  of  similar  character,  so  freely  bestowed  on  Kidd,  never 
rightfully  belonged  to  him.  His  reputation  among  all  but  a  few 
careful  students  of  history  is  based  mainly  on  the  ballads — or  con- 
fused recollections  of  them — which  commemorate  in  most  wretched 
rhyme  his  alleged  misdeeds  and  exploits.  But  the  ballads  alone  are 
not  entirely  responsible  for  the  false  ideas  which  came  down  to  us 
in  regard  to  him.  At  the  time  of  his  arrest,  party  feeling  ran  no 
less  high  and  bitter  than  in  our  own  day.  The  political  enemies  of 
the  noblemen  who  were  concerned  in  aiding  Bellomont  in  fitting 
out  the  expedition  commanded  by  Kidd,  availed  themselves  of 
Kidd's  misconduct,  to  assail  all  who  lent  him  their  support  and 
countenance,  seeking  by  this  means  to  secure  their  downfall.  In 
the  prosecution  of  this  design,  Kidd's  deeds,  or  rather  misdeeds, 
were  greatly  magnified,  often  largely  at  the  expense  of  truth. 

An  examination  of  the  leading  events  in  the  life  of  Kidd,  will 
convince  the  dispassionate  enquirer,  that  he  was  not  the  evil  and 
abandoned  character  he  is  so  generally  regarded  ;  and  as  I  feel 
that  the  citizens  of  this  community,  in  which  he  was  once  a  res- 
pected and  representative  resident,  can  not  be  indifferent  to  his 
history,  I  venture  to  present,  in  the  briefest  manner  possible,  a  few 
of  the  leading  facts  therein. 


RICH  ARB,   EARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


29 


Born  in  Scotland,*  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, William  Kidd  was  the  son  of  a  clergyman — a  fact  which  of 
itself  would  he  sufficient  to  convince  sonic  wiseacres  that  he  could 
come  to  no  good  end.  His  father,  John  Kidd.  belonged  to  the 
Scottish  Non-Conformists,  and  was  a  man  of  great  piety  and  strong 
religious  convictions,  who  testified  his  regard  for  principle  by  sub- 
nutting  to  k>  the  torture  of  the  hoot" — a  most  cruel  ordeal — dying 
on  the  14th  of  August,  ir>7!>.  William  Kidd  adopted  the  sea  at  an 
early  age,  and  while  still  a  young  man  became  shipmaster  and 
noted  as  ahold  and  successful  mariner.  His  trading  ventures  proving 
fortunate,  he  became  a  man  of  some  wealth.  lie  married  Mrs. 
Sarah  ( )ort  (said  to  have  been  a  lovely  and  accomplished  woman), 
the  widow  of  a  former  friend  and  fellow  officer ;  and  purchasing 
property  in  New  York,  established  his  residence  in  Cedar  or  Liberty 
street.  In  the  French  war  he  commanded  a  privateer,  and  distin- 
guished himself  in  two  engagements  in  the  West  Indies.  At  the 
time  of  the  Leislerian  troubles  he  naturally  sided  with  the  Officers 
of  the  Crown  and  the  British  residents  ;  and,  in  the  interests  of  the 
Province,  kept  his  vessel  in  the  Bay,  in  case  it  should  he  needed  to 
defend  the  city  against  the  French.  For  his  services  to  the  Pro- 
vince, the  General  Assembly  of  New  York,  on  the  recommendation 
of  Governor  Sloughter  and  Council,  granted  him,  on  the  lJ-th  of 
May,  1691,  the  sum  of  £150.  After  this,  he  commanded  a  ship  in 
the  merchant  service  ;  and  as  we  have  seen,  quitted  this  employ- 
ment to  engage  in  the  suppression  of  piracy. 

The  several  subscribers  to  the  enterprise  projected  by  Living- 
ston for  the  suppression  of  piracy,  having  paid  in  the  sums  agreed, 
a  thirty-gun  vessel  called  the  "  Adventure-galley  "  was  purchased, 
and  after  some  little  difficulty  manned  and  equipped.  As  the  owner 
risked  the  vessel,  and  the  crew  their  lives,  in  this  venture,  the  pro: 
jectors  demanded  of  the  government  the  proceeds  arising  from  the 
sale  of  whatever  was  captured,  with  the  exception  of  the  tenth 
ordinarily  reserved  for  the  Crown  from  the  sale  of  prizes  taken 


*  Documents  relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York.    Vol.  IV,  p.  583. 


30 


LIFE  AND   ADMINISTRATION  OF 


from  the  King's  enemies  ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  vessel  had  sailed, 
that  they  succeeded  in  obtaining  such  an  unusual  grant. 

In  the  month  of  April,  1696,  Kidd  sailed  from  Plymouth, 
England,  in  the  "  Adventure-galley,'"  with  a  crew  variously  estimated 
at  from  fifty  to  eighty  men.  Although  his  instructions  were  to 
proceed  directly  to  the  haunts  of  the  pirates  in  the  East  Indies,  he 
disregarded  them  and  sailed  for  New  York,  arriving  in  this  port  in 
the  month  of  July,  bringing  with  him  a  Erench  vessel  which  he 
had  captured  on  the  way  and  which  on  his  arrival  he  duly  delivered 
to  Governor  Fletcher.  He  remained  in  New  York  nearly  three 
months,  during  which  it  seems  he  led  a  very  dissolute  life.  It  was 
rumored  about  the  city  that  he  intended  to  turn  pirate,  and  that  he 
had  promised  Governor  Fletcher  £10,000  if  he  made  a  good  voyage. 
News  of  his  arrival  quickly  spread  itself  over  the  Province,  and 
many  adventurous  and  desperate  men  flocked  to  him  from  all  parts. 
Although  no  wages  were  offered,  the  agreement  being  that  the  men 
were  to  receive  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  profits  to  be  divided 
among  them,  he  easily  recruited  his  crew  up  to  about  the  number 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

According  to  Governor  Fletcher  it  was  generally  believed  in 
New  York  that  if  Kidd,  acting  in  accordance  with  his  commission 
and  instructions,  failed  to  make  a  profitable  voyage,  he  would  not 
be  able  to  govern  such  a  horde  of  men  under  no  pay,  who  would 
then  probably  mutiny  and  compel  him  to  turn  pirate.  * 

With  a  complete  and  enthusiastic  crew,  a  staunch  vessel  and 
suitable  supplies  and  ammunition,  Kidd  sailed  from  New  York  for 
Madeira,  arriving  there  in  February,  1697,  By  the  month  of  July 
he  found  himself  at  the  entrance  to  the  Red  Sea ;  up  to  that  time 
having  made  no  capture  with  the  exception  of  the  Freneh  prize 
taken  on  his  way  to  New  York.  The  well-known  and  learned 
liistorical  writer,  Mr.  Henry  C.  Murphy,  in  his  exhaustive  and 
interesting  article  on  Kidd,  published  in  Hunt's  Merchants' 
Magazine,  January,  1846,  states  that  this  voyage  to  Eastern  waters 

*  Gov.  Fletcher  to  the  Lords  of  Trade.  Doc.  relating  to  the  Col.  Hist,  of  N.  Y. 
Vol.  IV,  p.  275. 


RICHARD,   EARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


31 


was  k'a  plain  departure  from  the  objects  of  the  expedition,  which 
was  publicly  announced  to  he  the  destruction  of  pirates  in  the 
American  seas,  and  especially  at  Xew  York ; "  hut  I  find  that 
Bellomont  himself  expected  that  Kidd  would  avoid  New  York, 
and  sail  directly  for  the  haunts  of  the  freebooters  in  the  Indian 
Ocean  ;  *  and  indeed  his  acquaintance  with  the  resorts  of  the  pirates 
in  those  waters,  was  one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  his  being  selected 
to  command  the  expedition. 

We  must  now  leave  lvidd  for  a  while  to  return  to  Bellomont. 
Delay  in  issuing  his  commission  and  the  financial  embarrass- 
ment of  the  Home  Government,  prevented  the  Earl's  departure 
from  England  until  towards  the  close  of  1697.  lie  was  accom- 
panied to  America  by  his  wife  and  by  his  Lieutenant-Governor, 
Captain  .John  Xanfan.  The  voyage  was  an  unsually  stormy  one, 
and  the  ship  was  compelled  to  put  in  at  Barbadoes,  arriving  there 
on  the  5th  of  -January,  1698.  More  than  two  months  were  con- 
sumed at  this  place  in  repairing  the  vessel.  By  the  9th  of  March, 
the  ship  was  refitted  and  sailed  for  New  York,  where  she  arrived 
safely  on  the  2d  of  April. 

The  reception  accorded  to  Bellomont,  by  the  people  of  all 
classes,  was  most  cordial ;  crowds  nocked  to  the  landing  place  to 
greet  him,  and  he  was  met  everywhere  with  assurances  of  respect 
and  good-will.  Four  barrels  of  gunpowder  were  burned  by  order 
of  the  City  Government  in  honor  of  his  arrival.  His  commission 
having  been  published  in  due  form,  he  immediately  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  his  office.  lie  retained  in  the  Executive  Council  those 
who  had  served  under  his  predecessors ;  and  having  administered 
to  them  the  customary  oath  of  office,  he  issued  a  call  for  a  new 
Assembly  to  meet  on  the  8th  of  May,  lf>98. 

The  representatives  of  the  people,  not  to  be  outdone  by  their 
constituents,  now  united  in  extending  a  formal  reception  to  the 
newly  arrived  Governor.  The  corporation  of  the  city,  at  the  head 
of  which  was  Mayor  Johannes  DePeyster,  tendered  him  a  formal 

*  Earl  of  Bellomont  to  Secretary  Vernon.  Doc.  rcl.  to  the  Col,  Hist,  of  N.  Y. 
Vol.  IV,  pp.  760,  815. 


32  LIFE  AND  A I )  M I N I S T  K  A T I  OX  OF 

banquet,  at  which  an  address  full  of  loyalty  to  the  King  was 
read. 

Bellomont  was  a  nobleman  of  high  rank,  the  son  of  a  peer  and 
accustomed  to  a  courtly  style  of  living — for  which  he  ever  retained 
a  fondness;  but  he  was  not  a  man  to  neglect  his  duties  for  a  life  of 
ease  and  pleasure.  His  parliamentary  experience  and  thorough 
acquaintance  with  English  political  affairs  and  the  foreign  policy  of 
the  government,  peculiarly  fitted  him  for  his  new  duties,  upon 
which  he  entered  with  few  if  any  misgivings. 

Some  years  before  coming  to  America  he  had  married  a  young 
girl  (said  by  some  writers  to  have  been  but  twelve  years  of  age  at 
the  time)*  named  Catherine  Nanfan,  the  daughter  and  heiress  of 
Bridges  Nanfan,  Esq.,  of  Bridgemorton,  ( Jou'nty  Worcester,  Eng- 
land, t  By  this  union  he  had  two  sons,  Nanfan  and  Richard.  His 
domestic  relations  were  exceptionally  pleasant;  and  except  an  occa- 
sional attack  of  the  gout,  he  enjoyed  tolerably  good  health. 

Wholly  unembarrassed  by  fear  or  favor,  he  began  his  adminis- 
tration with  a  linn  resolve  to  discharge  his  duties  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  King  and  in  a  straightforward  and  honorable  manner ;  and 
although  beset  by  the  most  perplexing  opposition,  from  the  very 
outset,  he  uever  swerved  from  his  honest  intentions. 

Bellomont's  tine  personal  appearance  was  well  calculated  to 
make  a  decidedly  favorable  impression  upon  the  people  of  New 
York.  Tall,  good-looking,  and  graceful,  he  bore  his  sixty-two 
years  as  lightly  as  though  they  were  but  tifty.*  No  less  pleasing 
in  manners  than  appearance,  agreeable  in  conversation,  affable  in 
demeanor,  and  extremely  stylish  in  dress,  it  is  not  at  all  strange 
that  he  became  at  first  sight  a  prime  favorite  with  all  classes  of  the 
community.  With  the  Dutch,  whom  he  subsequently  declared  to 
be  "  most  hearty  for  his  present  majesty,"  and  "  a  sober  industrious 
people,  obedient  to  government,"  he  ever  retained  his  popularity. 

♦Sketch  of  Lord  Bellomont  in  Stryker's  American  Quarterly  Register.  Vol.  I, 
p.  434.    By  J.  B.  Moore. 

\  The  Peerage  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.    Sir  Bernard  Burke. 
I  Mr.  Lamb's  History  of  New  York. 


RICHARD,   EARX  OF  BELLOMONT. 


33 


The  cordial  relations  which  it  was  well-known  existed  between  him 
and  William  III,  and  his  early  aid  in  bringing  that  prince  to  the 
throne  of  England,  and  in  supporting  the  Protestant  religion,  may 
have  done  much  to  influence  them  in  his  favor ;  bnt  above  all  these 
considerations,  was  his  constant  solicitude  for  their  welfare,  and  his 
consistent  and  persistent  championship  of  the  cause  of  their  mar- 
tyred leaders,  Leisler  and  Milborne.  He  had  scarcely  been  in  the 
Province  a  week,  before  his  conscientious  attempts  to  enforce  the 
laws  and  carry  out  his  instructions,  raised  up  around  him  a  host  of 
personal  enemies.  Each  successive  attempt  on  his  part  to  perform 
his  duty  served  but  to  increase  their  number,  and  the  hatred  thus 
engendered,  pursued  him  with  slander,  misrepresentation,  and  vin- 
dictiveness,  down  to  the  day  of  his  death  ;  and  even  after  that  event, 
took  delight  in  insulting  his  memory.* 

From  the  date  of  Bellomont's  confirmation  as  Governor  of 
New  York,  this  enmity  began.  His  predecessor  in  office,  Colonel 
Benjamin  Fletcher,  a  man  of  very  questionable  judgment,  to  say 
the  least,  chagrined  at  being  superseded,  sought  by  every  means  in 
his  power  to  render  the  office  of  Governor  a  most  uncomfortable 
one  for  his  successor  to  fill ;  hoping,  as  the  sequel  showed,  to  be 
reinstated  to  the  position. 

Towards  the  latter  part  of  Fletcher's  administration,  and  imme- 
diately following  the  news  of  Bellomont's  appointment,  began  the 
iniquitous  system  of  land  grants,  which  for  a  time  paralyzed  the 
development  of  the  Province,  and  might  have  operated  most  disas- 
trously against  its  future  greatness  and  prosperity,  had  not  the  saga- 
city of  the  honest  Earl  foreseen  its  evil  consequences,  and  his 
determination  arrested  and  in  part  prevented  them. 

Some  idea  of  the  nature  and  extravagance  of  these  grants  of 
Fletcher  may  be  obtained  from  the  following  brief  schedule  of  six 
of  them,  taken  from  the  New  York  Colonial  Manuscripts,  which 
will  serve  to  show  their  enormous  extent : 

"  1.  A  grant  to  Colonel  Nicholas  Bayard  for  a  tract  of  land  in 
the  County  of  Albany,  about  24  or  30  miles  in  length. 


*  History  of  New  York.  Dunlap. 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


"  2.  A  grant  to  Godfrey  Dellius,  Minister  at  Albany,  for  a 
tract  of  land  on  the  East  side  of  Hudson's  river,  about  70  miles  in 
length  and  12  in  breadth. 

"  3.  A  grant  to  Colonel  Henry  Beeknian,  for  a  tract  of  land  in 
Dutchess  County,  about  16  miles  square  ;  and  likewise  for  another 
tract  of  land  upon  Hudson's  river,  about  8  miles  in  breadth  and  20 
in  length. 

"  4.  A  grant  to  Colonel  William  Smith,  for  sundry  tracts  of 
lands  and  meadows  in  the  Island  of  Nassau  [Long  Island]  computed 
to  contain  about  50  miles. 

"  5.  A  grant  to  Captain  John  Evans  for  sundry  tracts  of  land 
lying  on  the  West  side  of  Hudson's  river  and  containing  about  40 
miles  in  length  and  20  miles  in  breadth  [amounting  to  800  square 
miles.] 

"  6.  A  grant  to  Wm.  Pinhorne,  Esq.,  and  four  others,  for  a 
tract  of  land  lying  on  the  Mohawk  river,  about  50  miles  in  length 
and  2  in  breadth  on  each  side  of  the  said  river." 

In  addition  to  these  and  other  extravagant  grants,  Fletcher 
made  several  smaller  ones,  the  latter  comprising  land,  to  dispose  of 
which  he  had  no  authority  or  right  whatever.  These  grants  also 
were  made  after  he  knew  that  his  successor  had  been  appointed, 
and  besides  evincing  a  desire  to  embarrass  Bellomont,  seem  to  show 
Fletcher's  intention  of  making  all  the  profit  possible  out  of  his 
government  before  it  passed  into  other  hands. 

Attached  to  the  Governor's  residence  at  the  Fort,  was  a  garden 
for  pleasure,  fruit,  and  herbage,  known  as  the  "  King's  Garden,"  and 
a  farm  called  the  "King's  Farm,"  for  the  pasturing  of  the  Governor's 
horses  and  cattle ;  the  two  forming  part  of  the  King's  demesnes. 
In  the  time  of  James  II,  Governer  Dongan  proposed  to  grant  the 
King's  garden  for  the  maintenance  of  a  school  founded  by  the 
Jesuits  ;  but  the  King — much  as  he  is  supposed  to  have  favored  the 
Catholics — refused  his  consent,  on  the  ground  that  "he  would  not 
have  his  Governors  deprived  of  their  conveniences."* 

*  Documents  relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Vol.  IV, 
p.  490. 


RICHARD,  EARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


35 


Contrary  to  all  precedent,  which  preserved  these  demesnes 
intact  for  the  sole  use  of  the  Governor,  Fletcher,  on  hearing  of 
Bellomont's  departure  from  England  to  take  charge  of  his  govern- 
ment in  New  York,  made  grants  of  the  most  valuable  portions, 
probably  with  a  desire  to  annoy  the  person  who  was  coming  to 
supersede  him.  The  "  King's  Garden "  was  leased  to  Colonel 
Heathcote,  and  the  "  King's  Farm  "  to  Trinity  Church  ;  while  still 
other  portions  of  the  Governor's  lands  would  have  been  granted 
away,  only  that  the  Council  thought  Fletcher  was  going  too  far  in 
the  matter. 

The  consequence  of  all  this  was  that  when  Bellomont  arrived 
he  found  that  the  greater  part  of  the  King's  demesnes  which  rightly 
belonged  to  the  Governor  for  his  use  and  pleasure  during  his  term 
of  office,  had  been  granted  away,  and  that  what  was  left  was  in  a 
most  sadly  neglected  condition,  and  so  limited  in  extent  as  to  be 
scarcely  sufficient  to  pasture  a  horse  and  a  cow.  The  house  in  which 
he  was  obliged  to  take  up  his  residence  was  in  such  a  wretched 
state  of  repair  that  the  rain  came  in  through  the  roof ;  and  the 
flooring  of  the  lower  halls  and  rooms  was  in  an  advanced  state  of 
decay.  These  minor  annoyances,  however,  Bellomont  bore  as  cheer- 
fully as  possible ;  and  after  getting  settled  in  his  abode,  turned  his 
attention  at  once  to  more  important  matters.  Scarcely  a  week  had 
passed  since  his  arrival  before  he  had  occasion  to  carry  out  his 
instructions  regarding  the  enforcement  of  the  Acts  of  Trade.  These 
Acts,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  bore  heavily  upon  the  people  of  the 
Province,  who  were  not  only  taxed  five  per  cent,  on  imports  and 
exports,  but  were  obliged  to  restrict  their  trade  to  English  ships 
trading  directly  with  England,  it  being  at  that  time  well  established 
among  all  European  nations,  that  the  commercial  advantages  of 
colonial  possessions  should  redound  to  the  benefit  of  the  mother 
country,  as  asserted  by  many  historians. 

Moreover,  as  these  Acts  of  Trade  were  framedby  the  English 
government,  which,  to  the  greater  part  of  the  people  of  New  York, 
was  alien  and  arbitrary,  their  violation  was  not  generally  regarded 
as  a  very  grave  offence  by  the  colonial  merchants,  the  greater 


36 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


number  of  whom  were  Dutch  and  French.  Bellomont's  duty  was 
to  obey  instructions.  Accordingly,  when  it  came  to  his  ears  that 
an  unfree  ship  laden  with  East  Indian  goods  was  in  port,  he 
immediately  gave  orders  for  the  seizure  of  the  vessel  and  its 
cargo. 

The  tardy  and  imperfect  manner  in  which  his  orders  were 
obeyed,  convinced  him  that  no  dependence  was  to  be  placed  on  the 
Customs  officials.  At  the  head  of  these  was  Mr.  Chidley  Brooke, 
the  Collector  and  Beceiver-General,  who  was  a  former  protege  of 
Bellomont's  uncle,  and  who  owed  his  advancement  in  life  princi- 
pally to  the  influence  of  the  Coote  family,  to  which  it  is  said  he 
was  distantly  related.  Bellomont's  first  investigations  showed  him 
that  Brooke  was  unreliable,  and  he  at  once  suspended  him  from 
office  ;  appointing  two  Commissioners  in  his  stead,  until  the  govern- 
ment confirmed  a  successor.  One  of  these  Commissioners  was 
Colonel  Van  Cortlandt,  a  member  of  the  Council,  and  a  man  of 
excellent  repute  ;  the  other,  a  Mr.  Monsey,  who  had  filled  for  several 
years  the  office  of  Searcher  of  the  Customs,  at  a  salary  of  £50  per 
annum,  and  whom  Bellomont  advanced  to  the  higher  grade  of 
Commissioner,  at  £200  per  annum,  from  a  belief  that  his  experience 
in  the  Customs  would  render  his  services  in  this  new  position 
valuable. 

But  the  trouble  was  not  confined  to  the  chief  officer.  Even 
the  Sheriff  and  Constables,  whose  duty  it  was  to  attend  to  the  seizures, 
were  bribed  to  neglect  their  duty,  or  were  themselves  interested  in 
defeating  the  operation  of  the  law.  The  excitement  of  the 
merchants  grew  intense  over  Bellomont's  decisive  action.  Mr. 
Monsey's  first  attempt  to  carry  out  his  instructions,  resulted  in  his 
life  being  threatened  by  the  angry  merchants ;  whereupon  he 
resigned  his  office,  and  Mr.  Ducy  Hungerford,  a  distant  connection 
of  the  Earl,  was  appointed  in  his  place. 

Shortly  after  Bellomont  assumed  the  government,  charges  of 
complicity  with  pirates  had  been  brought  against  Mr.  William 
Nicoll,  a  member  of  the  Council ;  and  as  the  Earl  deemed  them 
well-founded,  he  suspended  him  from  office.     The  suspension  of 


RICHARD,   EAKI.  OF  BELLOMONT. 


37 


Mr.  Brooke,  who  was  likewise  one  of  the  Council,  removed  a  second 
member  ;  and  a  third,  in  the  person  of  Mr.  William  Pinhorne,  who 
remonstrated  with  Bellomont  in  violent  language  for  his  arbitrary 
proceedings  against  the  merchants,  soon  followed.  "Hindered  by 
his  assistants,  opposed  by  the  people,  and  threatened  by  the 
merchants," — to  borrow  his  own  account  of  the  situation,  the 
Governor  certainly  had  no  pleasant  time  of  it ;  but  the  opposition 
he  encountered  served  only  to  strengthen  him  in  discharging  his 
duty,  and  he  proceeded  no  less  firmly,  although  unsupported. 
His  efforts  at  reform,  would,  he  saw,  prove  entirely  futile  if  men 
were  retained  in  the  Council  who  would  not  assist  him  in  carrying 
out  his  policy  ;  and  he  resolved  to  suspend  every  member  whom  he 
suspected  of  dishonesty. 

The  next  great  outcry  against  him  arose  from  his  enforcing  an 
Act  of  Parliament  restoring,  to  their  families,  the  confiscated  estates 
of  Leisler  and  Milborne.  It  should  be  remembered  that  after  the 
execution  of  these  two  men,  their  friends  and  adherents  made 
strenuous  endeavors  to  place  their  conduct  in  its  true  light  before 
the  English  government.  A  calm  investigation  of  the  facts  convinced 
Parliament  that  their  execution  was  wholly  unwarranted ;  and  an 
Act  was  passed  legitimatizing  the  government  founded  by  them, 
reversing  the  attainder,  and  directing  the  return  to  their  heirs  of 
their  confiscated  property.  When  Bellomont  reached  the  Province, 
he  found  that  this  Act  bad  been  treated  with  positive  contempt. 
The  estates  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  several  owners  who  had 
purchased  them  at  public  sale  ;  and  some  of  these  persons  had 
already  disposed  of  a  portion  of  what  they  had  thus  acquired. 
These  new  owners  formed  what  we  would  now  call  a  "  ring,"  and 
seem  to  have  had  sufficient  influence  with  the  colonial  officers  to 
retard,  for  the  time  being,  the  return  of  the  property  to  the  heirs  of 
Leisler  and  Milborne,  as  directed  by  the  Act  of  Parliament. 
Before  leaving  England,  the  Earl  was  convinced  that  the  two  men 
had  been  unjustly  and  cruelly  dealt  with,  although  in  giving  orders, 
on  his  arrival  in  Xew  York,  that  the  provisions  of  the  law  be 
instantly  carried  into  effect,  he  did  not  in  the  least  exceed  his  duty, 


38 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


nor  even  give  way  to  prejudice,  however  great  his  personal  feeling 
in  the  matter  may  have  been. 

A  circumstance  which  annoyed  Bellomont  very  much,  and 
which  showed  him  the  temper  of  the  persons  composing  the 
Council,  was  the  fact  that  they  avoided  as  much  as  possible  lending 
him  their  assistance,  although  they  maintained  a  close  communica- 
tion with  Colonel  Fletcher,  who  still  remained  in  New  York. 

The  first  Assembly  called  by  Bellomont  proved  as  severe  a 
disappointment  to  him  as  his  Council.  Despite  his  proclamation, 
"  commanding  all  fairness  of  elections  and  legal  and  just  returns  of 
Representatives,"  the  election  of  eleven  out  of  nineteen  who  were 
returned  was  disputed.  These  eleven,  however,  with  a  boldness 
and  persistence  that  would  have  done  credit  to  more  modern  poli- 
ticians, managed  to  retain  their  places.  The  greatest  disorder  and 
confusion  followed  ;  and  it  was  evident  that  nothing  in  the  way  of 
legislation  could  be  accomplished.  Bellomont  had  no  inclination 
to  imitate  the  example  of  some  of  his  predecessors,  either  in  mana- 
ging elections  or  in  interfering  with  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
legislators ;  but  the  manifest  corruption  in  this  case  so  disgusted 
him,  that  upon  receiving  a  petition  from  several  of  the  well-disposed 
members,  he  peremptorily  dissolved  the  Assembly  after  it  had  been 
in  session  about  one  month. 

At  the  time  Lord  Bellomont  entered  upon  his  duties,  the 
entire  European  population  of  the  British  colonies  in  North 
America  did  not  exceed  two  hundred  thousand  persons.*  Of  this 
number  New  York  had  somewhat  less  than  twenty-five  thousand, 
and  New  England  about  seventy-five  thousand.  In  New  York, 
the  preponderating  element  was  Dutch ;  in  New  England,  the 
people  were  almost  all  English.  Between  the  inhabitants  of  these 
two  provinces  there  existed  a  rivalry  which,  at  times,  fell  but  little 
short  of  antagonism.  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  both  moved 
onward  with  rapid  strides  in  the  work  of  civilization  and  develop- 
ment ;  and  the  remarkable  intelligence  and  prosperity  of  their 

*  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States. 


RICHARD,   EARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


39 


descendants  at  this  day,  attests  the  wonderful  vigor  of  the  parent 
stock. 

But  although  it  is  not  generally  known,  and  even  when  known 
not  sufficiently  pondered  on,  the  people  of  New  York  and  New 
England  were  in  reality  homogeneous.  The  complete  elucidation 
of  this  remarkable  fact  would,  in  itself,  occupy  a  somewhat  lengthy 
address,  yet,  as  the  subject  is  rarely  touched  upon,  I  venture  to 
allude  to  it  briefly  in  this  place. 

The  English  historian  Ileylyn,  writing  in  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  says :  "  In  the  time  of  Henry  II  [about 
A.  D.  1170]  Flandres  was  so  overflowne  that  many  thousands  of 
people,  whose  dwellings  the  sea  had  devoured  came  into  England 
to  beg  new  seats ;  and  were  by  that  King  first  placed  in  Yorkshire 
and  then  removed  to  Pembrokeshire."  These,  however,  were  not 
the  first  colonists  from  Flanders  who  settled  in  England,  as  in  the 
preceding  reign  many  others  had  come  over  at  the  invitation  of  the 
English  King. 

A  recent  historical  writer,  who  has  evidently  given  close  study 
to  the  subject,  in  commenting  on  this  statement  of  Ileylyn's,  says : 
"  For  Yorkshire  it  would  seem  more  plausible  to  read  Lincolnshire, 
whose  southeast  subdivision  was  styled  Holland,  embracing  a  tract 
of  land  recovered  from  the  sea  by  a  Dutch  colony  settled  therein 
prior  to  the  sixth  century.  Boston,  its  chief  town,  already  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  III  [1327-77],  one  of  the  principal  commercial 
ports  of  England — whose  lofty  church  tower  two  hundred  and 
ninety  feet  in  height,  resembles  that  of  Antwerp  cathedral,  and  is 
visible  forty  miles  out  at  sea — was  originally  called  St.  Boto[u]lph's 
town,  after  a  prelate  who  preached  the  Gospel  in  the  seventh  cen- 
tury in  Belgic  Gaul.''''    *    *  * 

*  *  *  "  This  Saxon  district,  the  last  to  submit  to  William 
the  Conqueror,  was  as  late  as  1140  a  refuge  for  the  last  free  English 
Saxons.  Thus,  the  same  spirit  which  animated  the  Saxon  Menapii 
to  defend  their  marshes  against  the  fearful  Julius  and  his  mighty 
namesakes  and  maintained  the  freedom  of  their  native  sea-land, 
inspired  their  issue  in  the  fens  of  England  to  resist  the  potent 


40 


LIFE   AND   ADMINISTRATION  OF 


Norman  Conqueror  and  avert  his  cruel  thrall  from  their  new  homes. 
Again  when  prelacy  and  Stuart  tyranny  sought  to  impose  their 
yoke  upon  another  generation,  the  same  stern  influence  bade  them 
gird  up  their  loins  and  cross  the  Ocean,  far,  far  away  to  a  new 
world,  bearing  forth  the  precious  seed  destined  to  bring  forth  price- 
less harvests."  * 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  English  settlers  of  New  England 
and  the  Hollandish  element  of  New  York  were  identical  in  origin. 
Surely,  the  consideration  of  this  fact  should  tend  to  bind  their 
descendants  together  by  that  most  indissoluble  of  ties,  a  common 
origin,  and  aid  in  maintaining  that  perfect  harmony  on  which  the 
cause  of  progress  and  the  future  of  the  nation  so  largely  depends. 

Following  the  example  of  England  and  Holland,  the  early 
settlers  of  New  England  and  New  York  strove  for  the  maintenance 
of  their  religious  rights,  but  as  yet  entertained  no  thought  of 
perfect  religious  toleration.  Protestantism,  still  in  its  infancy,  and 
inexpressibly  dear  to  those  who  professed  it,  demanded  for  its 
nurture  and  increase  the  removal  of  all  opposition ;  and  by  reason  of 
this  fact,  the  action  of  its  avowed  and  devoted  adherents  in 
hesitating,  even  when  greatly  in  the  majority,  to  accord  perfect 
religious  freedom  to  Catholics,  can  be  understood  without  difficulty. 
Therefore  it  is  that  while  we,  in  these  later  days,  recognize  the 
wisdom  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Republic,  in  making 
religious  as  well  as  civil  liberty  the  foundation  of  our  institutions, 
we  cannot  harshly  condemn  the  methods  by  which  the  early  settlers 
of  New  England  and  New  York  sought  to  insure  their  own  religious 
freedom. 

The  fact  that  Bellomont  signed  an  Act  passed  by  the  New 
York  Assembly,  making  it  a  felony  for  any  ecclesiastic  of  the  church 
of  Rome  to  reside  in  the  Province  after  a  certain  specified  date,  has 
been  adduced  by  some  historical  writers  as  a  proof  of  intolerance 
and  bigotry  on  his  part,  and  referred  to  as  an  indelible  stain  upon 
his  character.    An  impartial  investigation  of  the  circumstances  will 


*  History  of  Carausius,  by  Gen.  J.  Watts  de  Peyster. 


BICHAHDj  EAEL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


41 


suffice,  however,  to  prove  to  any  unbiased  mind,  that  it  was  "rather 
a  measure  of  state  policy  than  persecution,"  there  heing  a  wide- 
spread belief  at  the  time  that  the  Indian  tribes  were  being  excited 
to  hostilities  by  Jesuit  priests,  working  in  the  interests  of  the 
French.  Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  Bellomont  was  a  most  zealous 
Protestant,  and  sought  by  every  legitimate  means  to  advance  the 
interests  of  the  Church  to  which  his  sovereign  and  the  great 
majority  of  his  countrymen  belonged,  and  in  the  preservation  of 
which,  in  England,  he  himself,  as  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  Revolu- 
tion, had  played  no  unimportant  part. 

While  Bellomont  can  hardly  be  accused  of  favoring  any  parti- 
cular clique  or  party  among  the  colonists,  it  is  true  that  he  had  a 
warm  feeling  of  sympathy  for  the  Leislerians.  Yet,  even  for  these, 
he  did  no  more  than  common  justice  dictated.  After  a  few  months' 
residence  in  New  York  he  found  that  they  were  largely  in  the 
majority  ;  and,  in  an  essentially  democratic  spirit,  he  paid  them  that 
attention  which,  as  a  just  Governor,  he  felt  was  rightly  their  due. 
lie  did  not  proceed  to  any  great  lengths  even  in  this.  I  have 
already  mentioned  that  he  ordered  the  restoration  of  the  confiscated 
property  to  the  families  of  Leisler  and  Milborne ;  and  that  by  so 
doing  he  stirred  up  a  ho>t  of  enemies.  But  he  merely  enforced  the 
provisions  of  an  Act  of  Parliament,  and  however  gladly  he  did  so, 
it  was  duty  and  not  favoritism  on  his  part. 

A  circumstance  which  occurred  some  months  later,  and  which 
was  made  the  cause  of  many  and  grievous  complaints  against  him 
by  his  enemies,  was  really  but  the  carrying  out  of  the  legal  provi- 
sions reversing  the  Act  of  Attainder  on  Leisler  and  Milborne,  and 
was  permitted  out  of  deference  to  the  wishes  of  their  friends,  who 
composed  the  popular  majority.  This  circumstance  was  the  disin- 
terment of  the  remains  of  Leisler  and  Milborne  from  the  hole 
beneath  the  gallows  into  which  they  had  been  hastily  thrown  after 
the  execution,  and  their  reinterment,  with  Christian  ceremonies,  in 
the  burial  ground  of  the  Dutch  Church.  Out  of  a  proper  and 
praiseworthy  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  deceased,  their  relatives 
and  connections,  including  Abraham  Gouverneur,  who  had  married 


42 


LIFE   AND   ADMINISTRATE  >X  OF 


Mary  Leisler,  the  widow  of  Jacob  Milborne,  and  who  was  now  the 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  decided  on  taking  this  step,  provided 
they  conld  obtain  the  Governor's  permission.  As  soon  as  it  became 
known  that  the  Leislerians  were  moving  in  the  matter,  a  strong 
influence  was  brought  to  bear  on  Bellomont  to  prevent  his  giving 
his  countenance  to  the  plan.  The  ministers  of  the  Dutch,  French 
and  English  churches,  and  many  of  the  wealthy  residents  of  the 
city  petitioned  against  it  ;  the  former,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
likely  to  give  rise  to  a  breach  of  the  peace  ;  the  latter,  presumably 
through  hatred,  they  being  pronounced  anti-Leislerians.  Bellomont's 
sentiments  would  not  however  allow  him  to  refuse  this  tardy  act  of 
justice;  and,  braving  the  opposition,  he  not  only  granted  permission 
for  the  burial,  but  allowed  a  hundred  soldiers  to  attend  as  a  guard 
of  honor.  The  disinterment  took  place  at  midnight,  and  although 
"  it  blew  a  rank  storm  for  two  or  three  days  together,"  upwards  of 
twelve  hundred  persons — mostly  Dutch  and  many  of  them  from 
neighboring  towns — were  in  attendance.  This  large  crowd  formed 
in  procession,  and  to  the  beating  of  muffled  drums  and  lighted 
torches,  proceeded  with  slow  and  solemn  step  through  the  dismal 
storm,  to  the  City  Hall,  where  the  remains  were  allowed  to  lie  in 
state  for  several  days,  after  which  they  were  interred  in  the  Dutch 
Church.* 

In  referring  to  this  weird  affair,  Bellomont,  in  a  letter  to  the 
Lords  of  Trade,  says :  "  I  do  not  repent  my  so  doing  since  no  man- 
ner of  ill  consequence  ensued,  and  if  it  were  in  my  power  I  would 
restore  them  [Leisler  and  Milborne]  to  life  again,  for  I  am  most 
confident  and  dare  undertake  to  prove  it,  that  the  execution  of 
these  men  was  as  violent,  cruell  and  arbitrary  a  proceeding  as  ever 
was  done  upon  the  lives  of  men  in  any  age  under  an  English  gov- 
ernment, and  it  will  be  proved  undeniably  that  Fletcher  hath  de- 
clared the  same  dislike  and  abhorrence  of  that  proceeding  that  I 
now  doe,  notwithstanding  his  doubleness  in  publishing  a  book  to 
applaud  the  justice  of  it  and  screen  his  sycophant  Councillors, 


*  Earl  of  Bellomont  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  Oct.  2lst,  1698.  Doc.  rel.  to  Col. 
Hist,  of  N.  Y.    Vol.  IV,  p.  401. 


RIClTARn,  EART.  OP  BELLOMONT. 


43 


Nicholls,  Bayard,  Brooks  and  the  rest  of  the  hloodhoiuids.  *  *  *  * 
I  do  not  wonder  that  Bayard,  Nichols  and  the  rest  of  the  mur- 
derers of  these  men  should  he  disturbed  at  the  taking  up  of  their 
hones  ;  it  put  them  in  mind  ('tis  likely)  of  their  rising  hereafter  in 
judgment  against  them."'* 

This  affair  and  others  of  far  less  importance  were  greatly 
magnified  by  the  merchants  of  New  York  and  their  correspondents 
in  London,  in  the  hope  of  inducing  the  Lords  of  Trade  to  decide 
on  Bellomont's  removal. 

Besides  the  anti-Leislerians  and  the  angry  merchants,  Bellomont 
had  other  enemies  almost  as  powerful,  and  fully  as  vindictive  and 
uncompromising.  These  were  the  persons  who  had  obtained 
extravagant  grants  of  land  from  Governor  Fletcher.  Upon  investi- 
gation Bellomont  discovered  that  about  three-quarters  of  the 
Province  had  been  granted  away  to  eleven  persons.  Perfectly 
amazed  at  the  extent  of  these  grants,  which  he  knew  was  not  fully 
realized  in  England,  and  perceiving  the  disastrous  effect  upon  the 
growth  of  the  Colony  which  must  result  from  confining  such  vast 
areas  of  fertile  territory  in  the  hands  of  a  few  speculators,  he  urged 
the  Lords  of  Trade  to  confer  upon  him  power  to  vacate  them. 
The  people  of  Albany,  through  their  representatives,  had  already 
memorialized  him  to  vacate  one  of  these  grants — that  made  to  William 
Pinhorne  and  others.  They  asserted  that  this  grant  totally  disre- 
garded the  natural  rights  of  the  Indian  inhabitants  who  had  been 
their  faithful  allies  during  the  French  war,  and  also  interfered 
with  the  rights  of  white  settlers.  The  best  part  of  the  Province — 
that  bordering  upon  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  rivers,  had  been 
unwisely,  if  not  criminally,  cut  off  from  the  people  by  these  grants; 
and  Bellomont  determined  on  having  it  restored  if  possible.  After 
the  Lords  of  Trade  had  carefully  studied  the  matter,  they  saw  that 
Fletcher's  policy  in  grants  had  been  detrimental  to  the  welfare  of  the 
country,  in  fact,  had  seriously  interfered  with  its  prosperity.  They 
explained  affairs  to  the  Lords  Justices  of  England,  and  the  latter 


*  The  Earl  of  Bellomont  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  May  15th,  1699.  Doc.  rel.  to  the 
Col.  Hist,  of  N.  Y.    Vol.  IV,  p.  523. 


44 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


thereupon  instructed  Bellomont  "that  lie  should  put  in  practice  all 
methods  whatsoever  allowed  by  law  for  the  breaking  and  annulling 
those  exorbitant,  irregular  and  unconditional  grants." 

In  obedience  to  these  instructions,  Bellomont  directed  the 
Attorney-General  of  the  Province  to  prepare  and  bring  in  a  bill  for 
vacating  Fletcher's  grants.  Six  of  the  Council  were  present  when 
the  bill  was  brought  up,  three  of  whom,  being  themselves  large 
land-owners,  voted  against  it.  The  other  three,  with  Bellomont's 
casting  vote,  passed  it.  This  bill  had  been  purposely  framed  to 
avoid  giving  general  alarm,  as  Bellomont  foresaw  that  the  opposition 
of  a  large  number  of  interested  persons  would  probably  result  in 
defeating  the  measure.  Having  passed  the  Council,  the  bill  was  sent 
to  the  Assembly,  and  being  successfully  passed  there,  required 
merely  the  endorsement  of  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  the  approval  of 
the  King  to  become  a  law. 

But  influences  were  speedily  set  to  work  to  counteract  this 
wholesome  law.  Those  interested  contributed  money  and  sent  one 
of  their  number  to  England,  where,  by  counter-statements  and  mis- 
representations, he  succeeded  in  preventing  the  immediate  endorse- 
ment of  the  Act  of  the  New  York  Assembly.  Much  as  Bellomont 
labored  in  this  measure,  he  did  not  live  to  see  it  carried  out  as 
emphatically  as  he  desired ;  but  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  the  steps  he  took  could  scarcely  fail  to  eventually  secure  the 
restoration  to  the  people  of  the  Province,  of  the  large  and  valuable 
territory  of  which  they  had  been  illegally  and  unjustly  despoiled. 

As  previously  stated,  Bellomont  had  three  principal  objects  in 
view  in  coming  to  America ;  these  were  the  enforcement  of  the 
Acts  of  Trade,  the  suppression  of  piracy,  and  the  healing  of  the 
local  troubles  between  the  colonists.  To  these  objects,  which 
primarily  occupied  his  attention,  may  be  added  the  vacating  of  the 
land  grants ;  and  also  the  preservation  of  peaceful  relations  with 
the  Indians,  who  were  to  be  prevented  from  falling  under  French 
influence. 

Unaided  by  vessels  of  war,  embarrassed  by  dishonest  and 
untrustworthy  officials,  and  opposed  by   a   powerful    clique  of 


RICHARD,  KAMI.  OF  BBLLOMONT. 


4:, 


merchants,  Bellomont's  efforts  to  suppress  illegal  trade  were 
necessarily  but  slightly  successful. 

In  operating  against  piracy  he  was  more  a  power  in  his  own 
person,  for  he  could  refuse  commissions  and  protections  to  free- 
booters, and  could  also,  with  the  aid  of  the  troops  at  his  command, 
arrest  any  who  came  within  his  jurisdiction.  As  his  sense  of  justice 
was  ever  too  great  to  allow  him  to  palliate  wrong,  he  could  not  bring 
himself  to  please  the  opponents  of  Leisler  and  Milborne  by  refusing 
justice  to  the  families  of  these  two  patriotic  men,  or  honor  to  their 
insulted  names  and  memory;  consequently  he  accomplished  little 
towards  uniting  the  two  contending  parties.  But  from  his  point  of 
view  he  did  almost  as  well ;  for  he  acknowledged  the  claims  of  the 
democracy — which  was  largely  in  the  majority,  so  far  as  regarded 
numbers — to  representation  in  the  government;  and  by  giving  the 
people  his  support  and  encouragement,  increased  their  loyalty  to 
the  Crown. 

Regarding  his  labors  in  vacating  the  extravagant  grants  of  land, 
reference  has  already  been  made.  Although  not  completely 
successful,  they  were  sufficient  to  arouse  public  attention  in  England 
to  the  methods  by  which  the  Crown  and  the  people  both  were 
robbed  of  valuable  possessions  for  the  enrichment  of  a  few  grasping 
individuals.  His  negotiations  with  the  Indians  were,  as  a  rule, 
quite  successful ;  and  would  doubtless  have  been  emphatically  so, 
had  the  Home  Government  paid  greater  heed  to  his  suggestions  and 
recommendations  in  regard  to  their  treatment. 

About  August,  1698,  the  East  India  Company  informed  the 
Lords  Justices  that  intelligence  had  reached  them  of  acts  of  piracy 
committed  by  Captain  Kidd.  Circular-letters  were  accordingly 
sent  to  all  the  colonial  governors  giving  notice  of  this  news,  and 
ordering  a  strict  lookout  to  be  kept  for  Kidd's  appearance  and  his 
immediate  capture  if  possible.  In  the  early  part  of  this  Address 
I  gave  the  particulars  of  the  fitting  out  of  Kidd's  expedition,  and 
the  details  of  his  cruise  for  the  first  fifteen  or  sixteen  months  after 
leaving  England,  during  which  time  he  had  adhered  to  his  instruc- 
tions.   From  an  impartial  study  of  the  various  accounts  of  this 


4(1 


LTFE  AND   ADMINISTRATION  OF 


notorious  freebooter,  I  am  led  to  believe  that  he  became  a  pirate, 
not  so  much  from  any  particular  design  on  his  part,  as  by  force  of 
circumstances,  and  previous  training  as  a  privateer.  With  a  crew 
of  lawless  men,  whose  only  hope  of  reward  was  based  on  captures 
of  some  kind,  which,  since  leaving  New  York,  they  had  not  been 
fortunate  enough  to  make,  it  would  not  be  surprising  if  fears  of  a 
mutiny  compelled  him  to  depart  from  the  letter  of  his  instructions. 
But,  whatever  the  actual  cause,  he  began  his  piratical  career  by  an 
unsuccessful  attack  upon  the  Mocha  fleet ;  followed  by  the  capture 
of  a  Moorish  ship,  from  which  he  realized  very  little  booty ;  and 
an  attack  upon  a  Portuguese  man-of-war  which  he  gladly  quitted 
after  testing  her  prowess.  This  unprofitable  warfare  seems  to  have 
satisfied  him  temporarily ;  and  it  is  possible  that  if  he  had  been 
able  to  control  his  men,  he  would  have  confined  himself  thereafter 
to  his  legitimate  work,  or  else  have  returned  to  England.  This 
seems  all  the  more  probable  from  the  fact  that  he  allowed  the  next 
ship  that  he  fell  in  with — the  Royal  Captain — to  proceed  un- 
molested, merely  exchanging  with  her  the  usual  marine  courtesies. 
But  this  unpiratical  conduct,  though  it  affords  presumptive  evidence 
of  a  desire  on  Kidd's  part  to  avoid  exceeding  his  instructions,  did 
not  satisfy  Lis  men.  One  of  them  so  irritated  Kidd  by  his  com- 
plaints that,  in  a  fit  of  passion,  the  latter  struck  him  to  the  deck 
with  a  bucket,  inflicting  injuries  that  proved  fatal  the  next  day ; 
and  this,  the  only  act  of  blood  that  stained  his  career,  and  a  some- 
what pardonable  one.  it  would  appear,  in  a  man  completely  at  the 
mercy  of  a  desperate  and  turbulent  crew,  forms  the  only  foundation 
for  the  alleged  bloodthirsty  proclivities  still  attributed  to  him. 
Succeeding  this  event,  be  made  several  small  captures,  followed  by 
that  of  the  ship  "  Quedagh  Merchant "  valued  at  about  £64,000.  At 
no  time  in  his  career  does  he  seem  to  have  abandoned  the  idea  of- 
returning  to  England  and  giving  an  account  of  himself ;  for,  as  late 
as  the  time  of  disposing  of  some  of  the  goods  taken  in  this  last 
prize,  he  is  known  to  have  set  aside  the  percentage  due  the  owners. 
He  claimed  afterwards  that  the  '"Quedagh  Merchant"  sailed  under 
a  French  pass,  and  consequently  was  a  legal  capture.  Still,  if  so,  and 


RICHARD,  EARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


47 


if  he  had  tlje  intention  of  acting  fully  up  to  his  instructions,  he 
should  have  taken  her  to  some  British  port  and  had  her  condemned, 
a  proceeding  to  which  he  does  not  appear  to  have  given  even  a 
thought. 

Arriving  at  Madagascar  with  his  prize,  he  burnt  the  "Adventure- 
galley,"  having  first  disposed  of  her  outfit  to  pirates  whom  he  met 
there,  and  who  feared  at  first  that  lie  would  attempt  their  capture. 
About  two-thirds  of  his  crew  now  quitted  him  to  follow  the  fortunes 
of  another  leader,  they  previously  receiving  their  share  of  the 
plunder  taken  from  the  last  prize.  With  the  remainder  of  his  men, 
Kidd  sailed  in  the  "Quedagh  Merchant"  for  the  West  Indies,  arriving 
there  in  the  spring  of  1699.  Almost  the  first  news  which  greeted 
him  was  that  he  had  been  declared  a  pirate.  Alter  some  little 
difficulty  he  succeeded  in  purchasing  a  sloop;  and  putting  into  it 
forty  men  and  some  of  his  treasure,  and  leaving  the  rest  of  his  booty 
in  the  "  Quedagh  Merchant,"  in  charge  of  about  a  score  of  men,  he 
sailed  northwards,  shortly  arriving  in  Delaware  Bay,  where  he 
readily  obtained  supplies.  Later,  he  made  his  appearance  in  the 
vicinity  of  New  York  ;  but  learning  that  Bellomont  was  in  Boston, 
he  proceeded  to  Rhode  Island,  where  he  disembarked  a  messenger 
to  inform  the  Earl  of  his  arrival,  and  to  make  protestations  of  his 
innocence. 

Bellomont  was  overjoyed  to  hear  that  Kidd  was  so  near  at 
hand  and  resolved  to  capture  him,  as  his  reputation  in  England  was 
beginning  to  suffer  from  his  connection  with  the  expedition. 
With  the  advice  of  his  Massachusetts  Council,  he  sent  back  word 
to  Kidd  that  if  his  representations  were  true  he  could  come  to 
Boston  with  safety. 

On  the  1st  of  July,  1699,  Kidd  arrived  in  Boston  in  his  sloop, 
and  presented  himself  before  the  Governor  and  his  Council  for 
examination.  He  was  not  successfid  in  making  his  innocence 
appear,  but  the  Earl  hoping  to  discover  where  the  ship  "  Quedagh 
Merchant "  was  secreted,  refrained  from  committing  him  to  prison. 
A  number  of  circumstances,  however,  showed  Bellomont  that  the 
temper  of  the  people  of  the  Province  was  favorable  to  Kidd,  and 


48 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTBATION  OF 


fearing  his  escape  and  the  disappearance  of  his  spoil,  he  gave  orders, 
on  the  6th  of  July,  for  his  arrest.  At  the  same  time,  the  cargo  was 
taken  possession  of  by  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Council, 
and  a  search  was  instituted  for  such  goods  and  treasure  as  had  been 
concealed  or  disposed  of  by  Kidd,  in  the  several  places  where  he 
had  touched  before  arriving  at  Boston. 

After  his  arrest,  Kidd  sent  word  to  Bellomont  that  if  he  "  would 
let  him  go  to  the  place  where  he  left  the  '  Quedagh  Merchant,'  and  to 
St.  Thomas's  Island  and  Curascao,  he  would  undertake  to  bring  off 
fifty  or  three  score  thousand  pounds  which  would  otherwise  be  lost ; " 
and,  "that  he  would  be  satisfied  to  goe  a  Prisoner."* 

Situated  as  Bellomont  was,  he  did  not  dare  to  entertain  this 
proposal;  but  after  trying  in  vain  to  learn  where  the  "Quedagh 
Merchant "  lay,  he  ordered  a  vessel  to  be  lifted  out  to  go  in  search 
of  her.  Before  this  vessel  sailed,  however,  he  received  information 
from  a  reliable  source  that  the  men  left  in  charge  of  the  "Quedagh 
Merchant,"  had  removed  her  cargo  in  a  sloop  to  Curascao,  and  then 
burnt  her  to  the  water's  edge. 

The  commissioners  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  property 
of  Kidd,  reported  the  total  of  all  seized  and  recovered  as  "  one 
thousand  one  hundred  and  eleven  ounces  of  gold,  two  thousand 
three  hundred  and  fifty  three  ounces  of  silver,  fifty-seven  bags  of 
sugar,  forty-one  bales  of  goods,  and  seventeen  pieces  of  canvas." 
A  portion  of  this  property  consisted  of  several  pieces  of  plate  and 
two  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  in  money  belonging  to  Mrs.  Kidd  ; 
and  twenty-five  crowns,  English  money,  belonging  to  her  maid  ; 
all  of  which  was  subsequently  restored. 

It  having  been  decided  to  try  Kidd  in  London,  the  Home 
Government,  sent  over  the  Advice  Frigate,  commanded  by  Captain 
W vnn,  to  bring  him  thither  ;  and,  in  company  with  thirty  other 
pirates,  he  arrived  in  England  on  the  12th  of  April,  1700,  and  was 
committed  to  prison  in  London.  A  year  passed  before  he  was 
brought  to  trial.    In  the  meantime  a  fierce  political  opposition  to 


*  The  Earl  of  BelJomont  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  Jan.  5th,  1699.  Doc.  rel.  to 
Col.  Hist,  of  N.  V.    Vol.  IV,  p.  602. 


KICUAKD,  EAKL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


49 


Lord  Somers  and  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  respectively  Lord  Cbancellor 
and  Lord  High  Admiral  of  England,  had  sprung  up,  and  their 
impeachment  was  determined  upon.  Every  means  was  taken  by 
their  enemies  to  effect  their  ruin  ;  and  among  other  charges  brought 
against  them,  was  that  of  connection  with  Captain  Kidd,  in  which 
the  Earl  of  Bellomont  also  was  mentioned. 

The  enemies  of  Bellomont  1  in  England,  principal  among 
whom  were  the  agents  of  those  he  had  offended  by  his  activity  in 
suppressing  illegal  trade  and  in  vacating  the  land  grants,  took 
advantage  of  this  affair  to  press  for  his  removal  from  office.  They 
insinuated  that  he  was  sent  from  New  York  to  countenance  Kidd 
and  other  pirates,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  he  had  been  the  means 
of  causing  the  arrest  of  a  number  of  freebooters,  and  that  he  had 
almost  succeeded  in  eradicating  the  evil  in  the  provinces  over 
which  he  governed,  and  that,  too,  by  his  vigorous  and  unaided 
measures. 

At  this  time  also,  the  question  of  the  Irish  forfeitures  was  in 
agitation  in  Parliament,  and  much  opposition  was  shown  to  the 
grants  of  confiscated  estates  made  by  William  III  to  several  of  his 
favorites.  The  efforts  of  the  Tories  and  Republicans — who  united 
against  the  Whigs — were  successful ;  and  in  abolishing  the  grants 
no  distinction  was  made  between  those  who  were  enriched  by 
u  injudicious  partiality "  and  those  who  had  been  "  sparingly 
rewarded "  for  services  to  the  State  and  the  Protestant  religion. 
Among  those  who  suffered  was  Bellomont,  who  found  himself 
deprived  of  an  estate  to  which  he  was  entitled  as  well  by  reason  of 
the  services  of  his  father  and  grandfather,  as  by  his  own  zeal  in 
supporting  the  King,  and  the  losses  he  was  at  by  the  rebellion  in 
Ireland. 

The  malicious  rumors  regarding  his  complicity  with  pirates, 
and  the  proceedings  in  relation  to  this  and  other  matters  in  the 
House  of  Commons — where  his  name  was  now  frequently  dragged 
into  debate — annoyed  and  worried  him  exceedingly.  Conscious  of 
his  entire  innocence  of  evil  design,  and  knowing  how  earnestly  he 
strove  to  discharge  his  onerous  duties  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 


50 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


sovereign,  his  sorrow  and  mortification  at  being  thus  grossly 
maligned  and  misrepresented  must  have  been  keen  in  the  extreme. 
But  his  proud  nature,  while  chaffing  under  this  harsh  and  unjust 
persecution  and  neglect,  gave  way  to  but  little  complaint  ;  nor  did 
he  for  an  instant  relax  that  stern  attention  to  duty  which  with  him 
was  ever  a  fixed  principle.  The  following  extract  from  a  communi- 
cation by  him  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  dated  October  17th,  1700, 
shows  the  temperate  nature  of  his  remonstrances  against  the  treat- 
ment he  was  receiving : 

"  I  have  been  much  troubled  to  find  my  name  brought  on  the 
stage  of  the  House  of  Commons  about  Kidd.  'Twas  hard  I  thought 
I  should  be  push'd  at  so  vehemently  when  it  was  known  I  had 
taken  Kidd  and  secur'd  him  in  order  to  his  punishment ;  which 
was  a  sure  sign  the  noble  Lords  concern'd  with  me,  and  myself, 
had  no  criminal  design  in  setting  out  that  ship.  Another  mortifica- 
tion I  have  met  witli  is  the  loss  of  a  rent-charge  of  a  .£1,000  a  year 
which  the  Xing  was  pleased  to  give  me  upon  an  Irish  forfeited 
estate,  in  recompense  of  the  great  loss  I  had  sustained  by  the 
rebellion  in  Ireland.  If  I  have  served  the  King  and  interests  of 
England  here,  I  am  sure  I  have  been  strangely  rewarded  there." 

All  through  his  administration  Bellomont  showed  himself 
possessed  of  an  inflexible  integrity.  By  winking  at  illegal  trade 
he  could  easily  have  gained  the  favor  of  the  merchants,  and  silenced 
all  opposition ;  for  the  clamor  against  him  arose  mainly  from  the 
fact  that  many  of  those  engaged  in  trade  found  their  profits  sadly 
lessened  by  his  extraordinary  vigilance ;  by  becoming  a  partner  in 
their  unlawful  practices  he  could  quietly,  but  surely,  have  amassed  a 
fortune.  But  he  pursued  an  exactly  opposite  course ;  and  so 
careful  was  he  not  to  involve  himself  in  any  way  with  those  engaged 
in  commercial  transactions,  where  it  was  possible  that  the  influence 
of  his  name  might  be  used  in  evading  the  law,  that  he  refused  an 
offer  of  silent  partnership  in  a  legitimate  business,  made  to  him  by 
a  New  England  merchant.*    He  might  have  added  largely  to  his 

*  The  Earl  of  Bellomont  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  28th  Nov.,  1700.  Doc.  relating 
to  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.     Vol.  IV,  p.  792. 


RICHARD,  EARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


51 


income  by  granting  immunity  or  protection  to  pirates  ;  but  though 
very  tempting  inducements  were  held  out  to  him — amounting  in 
one  instance  at  least  to  £5000,  for  protecting  a  single  company  of 
pirates,*  and  in  several  other  instances  to  quite  large  sums  for 
similar  services,  he  indignantly  refused  them  all. 

Having  taken  Kidd  into  custody,  he  carefully  guarded  all  the 
treasure  seized  with  him,  and  instituted  an  honest  search  for  what 
had  been  removed  from  the  sloop  before  it  put  into  Boston. 
Having  recovered  this  portion,  he  added  it  to  the  original  seizure 
and  sent  the  whole  to  England,  "  without  retaining  to  the  value  of 
a  farthing "  for  himself;  and,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Secre- 
tary Vernon, f  he  pursued  the  same  honest  course  with  the  effects 
of  every  pirate  he  seized. 

Bellomont's  own  statement  in  regard  to  the  possibilities  of 
profit  in  administering  the  government  of  New  York,  shows  that 
the  post  could  have  been  made  a  decidedly  valuable  one  to  a 
Governor  with  an  elastic  conscience.  He  says  :  "  'Tis  true  if  1 
could  make  this  a  mart  of  piracy,  confederate  with  the  merchants 
and  wink  at  their  unlawful  trade ;  if  I  would  pocket  all  the  off- 
reckonings, make  three  hundred  pounds  per  annum  of  the  article 
of  victualling  the  poor  soldiers,  muster  half  Companies,  pack  an 
Assembly  that  would  give  me  what  money  I  pleased  and  let  me 
misapply  it  as  I  pleased,  and  pocket  a  great  part  of  the  publick 
moneys;  I  could  make  this  government  very  valuable,  I  believe 
more  than  that  of  Ireland,  which  is  reckoned  the  best  government 
in  his  Majestie's  gift.'''  X 

But  the  honest  Bellomont  refused  to  profit  by  doing  wrong 
himself,  or  allowing  others  to  do  wrong.  He  contented  himself 
therefore  with  his  legitimate  perquisites,  an  account  of  which  for  the 
first  year  of  his  administration  in  this  Province,  with  a  reference 
to  his  salary,  I  quote  from  one  of  his  letters  to  the  Lords  of  Trade : 

"  That  your  Lordships  may  be  judges  of  all  the  profits  of  this 


*Doc.  relating  to  the  Colonial  Hist,  of  the  State  of  New  York.    Vol.  IV,  p.  458. 

\  Letters  of  fames  Vernon  to  the  Duke  of  Shrewsbury.    Vol.  Ill,  p.  27. 

\  Doc  relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Vol.  IV,  p.  378. 


52 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


government,  I  resolve  you  shall  know  to  a  shilling  what  the  per- 
quisites are  from  time  to  time.  I  formerly  sent  you  an  account  of 
the  seizures  of  ships  and  unlawful  goods  with  the  apprizements 
and  sales  of  them,  and  for  how  much  ;  and  in  thirteen  months  that 
I  have  been  here  I  have  got  but  eighty-three  pounds  six  shillings 
New  York  money  from  the  Secretary  for  passes  for  Ships,  Licenses 
for  Marriages  and  Probats  of  Wills  and  all  other  things  wherein 
the  Seale  of  the  Province  has  been  used.  And  when  I  went  to 
Albany  the  present  from  the  Indians  consisting  in  Beaver  skins 
and  some  few  others  skins,  I  sold  for  eighty  pounds  nine  shillings 
and  ten  pence  New  York  money.  I  can  safely  declare  upon  oath 
that  the  particulars  above  specifyed  and  my  salary  of  four  hundred 
pounds  per  annum  are  all  the  profits  I  have  had,  received,  or  made 
directly  or  indirectly  since  my  being  in  the  Government,  that  I 
know  or  remember."  * 

When  Kidd  was  brought  before  the  Commissioners  in  England, 
he  defended  himself  on  the  ground  that  his  men  had  forced  him  to 
exceed  his  instructions.  When  questioned  as  to  the  amount  of 
treasure  brought  by  him  to  New  England,  he  said  he  estimated  it 
to  be  worth  about  £30,000 ;  but  added  that  part  of  it  had  been 
embezzled  by  those  who  got  it  into  their  hands,  although  he 
acquitted  Lord  Bellomont  of  having  kept  any  part  of  it. 

The  trial  of  Kidd  did  not  take  place  until  the  8th  of  May,  1701. 
Having  been  "  found  guilty  on  an  indictment  for  the  murder  of 
Moore,  the  gunner,  and  on  five  separate  indictments  for  piracy,  he 
was  sentenced  to  be  hung,  and  in  the  same  month  [May  12th]  was 
accordingly  executed.'"  + 

Some  apologists  for  Kidd,  in  their  endeavor  to  make  it  appear 
that  he  was  a  martyr  to  circumstances,  have  felt  it  necessary  to 
blacken  the  character  of  Bellomont,  whom  they  accuse  of  dealing 
perfidiously  with  his  former  friend.  A  conscientious  study  of  the 
whole  subject  must  however  convince  the  impartial  and  unpreju- 
diced student  that  no  other  course  was  open  to  an  honest  man  like 

*  Doc .  relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Vol.  VI,  p.  522. 
\  Henry  C.  Murphy. 


RICHARD,   EARL  OF  BEXLQMONT. 


53 


Bellomont,  tlian  that  which  he  took.  His  duty  as  a  magistrate  was 
plain  ;  he  had  orders  to  suppress  piracy  and  to  arrest  pirates ;  and 
so  far  as  he  had  the  power  he  carried  out  the  law.  Even  if  Kidd 
had  been  forced  into  piracy  by  a  mutinous  crew,  it  was  not  for 
Eellomont  to  decide  that  he  was  not  guilty.  His  duty  to  himself 
and  to  his  family  demanded  that  he  should  exonerate  himself  from 
all  charges  of  complicity  with  Ividd's  illegal  deeds ;  and  this  was 
only  possible  through  the  fullest  investigation — which,  to  his  credit 
be  it.said,  he  anxiously  courted. 

"  To  an  intelligent  and  candid  judge  of  human  actions,"  says 
the  eminently  wise  Maeaulay,  from  whom  I  quote,  "it  will  not 
appear  that  any  of  the  persons  at  whose  expense  the  "  Adventure- 
galley  "  was  fitted  out  deserved  serious  blame.  The  worst  that  could 
be  imputed  even  to  Bellomont,  who  had  drawn  in  all  the  rest,  was 
that  he  had  been  led  into  a  fault  by  his  ardent  zeal  for  the  public 
service  and  by  the  generosity  of  a  nature  as  little  prone  to  suspect 
as  to  divise  villainies.  His  friends  *  *  *  might  surely  be 
pardoned  for  giving  credit  to  his  recommendation.  It  his  highly 
probable  that  the  motives  which  induced  some  of  them  to  aid  his 
design  was  genuine  public  spirit.  But  if  we  suppose  them  to  have 
had  a  view  to  gain,  it  was  to  legitimate  gain.  Their  conduct  was 
the  very  opposite  of  corrupt.  Xot  only  had  they  taken  no  money, 
they  had  disbursed  money  largely  and  had  disbursed  it  with  the 
certainty  that  they  should  never  be  reimbursed  unless  the  outlay 
proved  beneficial  to  the  public.  That  they  meant  well  they  proved 
by  staking  thousands  on  the  success  of  their  plan  ;  and  if  they 
erred  in  judgment  the  loss  of  those  thousands  was  surely  a  sufficient 
punishment  for  such  an  error.  On  this  subject  there  would  probably 
have  been  no  difference  of  opinion  had  not  Somers  been  one  of  the 
contributors."* 

I  have  thus  far  merely  attempted  to  show  the  obstacles  en- 
countered by  Bellomont  in  his  attempts  to  suppress  piracy  and 
illegal  trade;  and  have  dwelt  briefly  on  the  opposition  awakened  by 


History1  of  England. 


54 


LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


his  labors  in  this  direction  and  against  the  extravagant  land  grants. 
These  labors  were  the  most  important  of  his  administration,  and  to 
them  he  gave  the  greater  part  of  his  attention  and  energy.  His 
success,  it  is  true,  was  far  from  being  what  was  expected  by  the 
English  government  or  desired  by  himself.  Yet,  in  the  face  of  all 
the  circumstances,  it  was  as  much  as  could  have  been  accomplished 
by  an  impartial  and  honest  governor.  At  the  time  he  came  to  the 
Province,  knavery  and  rascality  may  be  said  to  have  been  at  a  pre- 
»  '  mium,  and  those  who  practised  them  unblushingly,  became,  in  many 
instances,  both  wealthy  and  powerful.  This  element,  with  the 
friends  and  adherents  of  Fletcher  and  the  so-called  "  Jacobites  " — 
who  detested  Bellomont  for  his  efforts  in  furthering  the  English 
Revolution — formed  a  party  which  not  only  steadily  opposed  every 
reform  introduced  by  the  new  Governor,  but  also  persistently  mis- 
represented and  maligned  him.  Active  in  the  Province,  it  had  also 
its  agents  in  England  ;  and  with  a  spirit  similar  to  that  which  actuates 
some  of  our  modern  political  parties,  it  seems  that  their  rallying 
cry  was  "  anything  to  beat "  Bellomont.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
how  far  their  attempts  would  have  been  successful,  had  not  the 
hand  of  death  intervened  and  removed  the  object  of  their  per- 
secutions. 

The  time  allotted  to  the  delivery  of  this  Address  does  not  per- 
mit of  my  touching  on  any  of  the  minor  matters  that  engaged  Bel- 
lomont's  attention  in  his  government  of  this  Province  ;  and  for  the 
same  reason  T  am  obliged  to  omit  any  account  of  his  administration 
in  England.  One  subject,  however,  I  feel  that  simple  justice  de- 
mands I  should  not  wholly  neglect.  Therefore  I  shall  detain  you  a 
few  minutes  longer  to  refer  to  his  religious  character,  which  was 
variously  assailed  by  his  enemies,  and  with  such  success  as  to  lead 
the  Bishops  of  London  to  congratulate  the  Reverend  Mr.  Vesey, 
Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  on  the  probable  success  of  the  efforts 
made  for  the  Earl's  removal  from  office. 

Although  but  little  is  known  of  the  religious  tendencies  of 
Bellomont  in  early  life,  it  is  certain  that  in  his  later  years  he  was  a 
professing   Christian,    and   a  regular    attendant  at  church  and 


RICHARD,   EARL  OK  BELLOMONT. 


55 


communion.  There  can  be  no  more  question  of  his  sincerity  than  that 
of  thousands  of  worthy  persons  who  in  youth  have  not  been  especially 
noted  for  their  religious  zeal,  but  who  in  mature  life  become  pillars 
of  virtue  and  piety.  In  New  York  he  was  attentive  to  his  religious 
duties  and  zealous  in  promoting  Christianity,  particularly  among 
the  Indians. 

Bellomont's  neglect  in  attending  church  began  about  the  time 
the  Act  of  Assembly  was  passed  vacating  the  extravagant  land 
grants.  Among  those  who  became  his  enemies,  owing  to  his  efforts 
in  favor  of  this  act,  was  the  Reverend  Godfrey  Dellius,  the  Dutch 
minister  at  Albany.  This  person,  by  adopting  the  methods  then  in 
vogue  for  obtaining  lands  from  the  Indians,  became  possessed  of  an 
immense  tract  of  land,  described  as  covering  eight  hundred  and 
forty  square  miles,  which  was  duly  granted  to  him  by  Governor 
Fletcher.  The  evil  of  these  land  grants  was  clearly  perceived  by 
the  Assembly  and  the  conduct  of  those  who  obtaind  them  justly 
denounced.  The  course  of  Dellius  seems  to  have  been  deemed 
peculiarly  reprehensible,  he  being  a  clergyman  ;  and  when  the  Bill 
vacating  the  grants  was  sent  to  the  Assembly,  that  body  attached 
to  it  a  clause  for  depriving  him  of  his  benefice  at  Albany,  and 
refused  to  pass  the  Bill  without  that  clause.  To  this  Bellomont  and 
his  Council  agreed,  believing  that  it  was  "  better  to  lose  a  wicked 
Clergyman  than  a  good  Bill." 

Shortly  after  the  passage  of  this  Act  those  persons  who  were 
deprived  of  land  by  it,  subscribed  £700,  and  employed  Dellius  to 
represent  them  in  England.  Fortified  with  certificates  of  piety 
and  good  life,  the  latter  went  abroad,  and  succeeded  in  prejudicing 
in  his  favor  the  Classes  of  Amsterdam,  which  sent  Bellomont  a 
remonstrance.  In  England  he  was  no  less  successful.  The  Bishops 
of  London,  who,  it  appears,  had  then  jurisdiction  over  New  York, 
likewise  hearkened  to  his  representations  of  Bellomont,  and  came 
to  regard  the  Earl  as  a  personage  dangerous  alike  to  church  and 
stale.  This  opinion  was  strengthened  by  a  communication  from 
the  Wardens  and  Vestry  of  Trinity  Church,  which  represented 
Bellomont  as  the  enemy  of  that  Church,  and  prayed  that  the 


56 


J  JFK  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 


Bishop  would  interest  himself  in  protecting  it  from  the  destruction 
threatened.  The  only  step  taken  by  the  Earl  against  Trinity 
Church  was  to  approve  of  the  Act  which  deprived  it  of  the  King's 
Farm  granted  to  it  by  Governor  Fletcher  ;  and  this  proceeding  was 
by  no  means  harsh,  for  in  it  Bellomont  but  reclaimed  land  rightfully 
belonging  to  the  Governor's  house,  and  for  which  he  had  pressing 
need,  as  I  have  previously  stated. 

It  is  strange  that  merely  depriving  the  Church  of  a  piece  of 
land,  to  which  it  had  but  seven  years'  lease,  should  have  sufficed  to 
obliterate  the  recollection  of  Bellornont's  numerous  benefactions 
and  kindnesses  of  a  previous  date.  But  such  was  the  case.  Mr. 
Vesey,  the  clergyman  to  whom  Bellomont  had  been  a  good  friend, 
now  became  his  enemy,  and  not  only  neglected  to  pray  for  him,  as 
was  the  custom  towards  all  Governors,  but  openly  and  repeatedly 
prayed  for  the  safe  passage  and  success  of  Dellius,  who  had 
been  deprived  by  law  of  his  benefice  and  had  gone  abroad  the 
avowed  enemy  of  the  Earl.  It  can  scarcely  be  wondered  at  that 
Bellomont  remained  away  from  church  under  the  circumstances. 
That  he  did  not  abandon  his  religious  duties  and  that  he  did  not 
become  an  enemy  of  the  church,  is  evident  from  the  regularity  of 
his  attendance  at  King's  Chapel  in  Boston,  and  the  solicitude  he 
manifested  for  the  welfare  of  religion  in  that  place. 

Bellomont's  visit  to  Massachusetts  took  place  in  1699.  In  the 
spring  of  that  year,  having  succeeded  in  restoring  the  affairs  of 
New  York  to  a  reasonable  degree  of  order,  he  accepted  the  invita- 
tion of  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  Council  and  Assembly  of  Massa- 
chusetts, to  visit  that  Province.  Leaving  the  government  of  New 
York  in  the  hands  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Nanfan,  he  departed  for 
Boston,  accompanied  by  Lady  Bellomont  and  a  large  retinue  of 
servants. 

I  have  not  time  to  dwell,  even  briefly,  on  Bellomont's  course  in 
New  England.  He  was  everywhere  well  received  by  the  inhabi- 
tants, who  were  greatly  pleased  with  him.  His  various  duties  in 
Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  occupied  his  attention  during 


Bti  HARD,  EARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


57 


the  remainder  of  the  year,  and  in  that  time  he  was  the  recipient  of 
the  sum  of  £1500,  voted  him  by  the  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts, with  which  he  was  in  perfect  harmony.  A  most  important 
incident  of  his  sojourn  in  New  England,  was  the  arrest  of  Captain 
Kidd,  the  details  of  which  I  have  already  given. 

Eeturning  to  Xew  York  at  the  close  of  the  year,  he  resumed 
his  old  battle  against  illegal  trade*  and  piracy,  and  gave  those  who 
persisted  in  violating  the  laws  so  little  peace,  that  a  petition  against 
him,  signed  by  a  large  number  of  New  York  merchants,  was  sent 
to  England.  It  contained  thirty-two  heads  of  complaint,  and 
charged  Bellomont  with  defaming  the  character  of  eminent  and  res- 
pectable persons,  by  accusing  them  of  corrupt  practices  in  trade,  and 
with  abetting  piracy.  About  the  same  time,  the  merchants  of  Lon- 
don petitioned  the  King  to  interfere  and  afford  redress  to  their  suf- 
fering brethren  in  New  York.  Despite  these  assaults,  Bellomont 
gave  them  no  peace,  so  long  as  he  suspected  they  were  violating  the 
law  ;  and  to  my  mind  no  greater  proof  of  his  honesty  could  be 
adduced  than  this  fact. 

The  continual  worry  and  annoyance  to  which  he  was  subjected 
by  his  numerous  enemies,  both  in  America  and  England,  had  a  bad 
effect  on  his  general  health  ;  and  in  consequence,  the  gout,  which 
had  lately  begun  to  give  him  serious  trouble,  made  rapid  headway. 
In  February,  1701,  an  unusually  severe  attack  set  in,  which  termi- 
nated fatally,  on  the  5th  of  March  following,  producing  a  profound 
feeling  of  grief  in  the  provinces. 

The  remains  of  the  Earl  were  interred  with  becoming  honors 
"  in  the  chapel  of  the  Fort  at  the  Battery,"*  "  then  occupied  by 
the  royal  military  forces  for  public  worship. "f  When  the  Fort 
was  taken  clown  and  the  Battery  leveled,  the  leaden  coffin  was 
removed,  and  finally  deposited  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard.  Dunlap, 
the  historian,  cites  Mr.  Pintard  as  authority  for  the  statement  that 
this  Society,  at  one  time,  possessed  the  Earl's  coffin-plate. 

♦Sketch  of  Lord  Bellomont,  by  J.  B.  Moore  ;  in  Striker's  Amer.  Quar.  Register, 
Vol.  I. 

t  Discourse  (August,  1856)  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  DeWitt. 


58  LIFE  AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF 

In  Massachusetts,  the  general  grief  was  no  less  profound  than  in 
New  York,  and  a  general  fast  was  ordered  throughout  that  Province. 

Lady  Bellornont  remained  in  New  York  for  several  years  after 
her  husband's  death ;  but  finally  went  to  live  in  England,  where 
she  married  a  gentleman  named  Samuel  Pytts.  She  survived  the 
Earl  some  thirty-six  years. 

At  the  time  of  Bellomont's  death,  Lieutenant-Governor  Nan- 
fan  was  absent  in  Barbadoes  on  business  connected  with  his  wife's 
estates,  and  the  administration  of  the  Government  pro  tern.,  com- 
formably  to  the  King's  instructions,  fell  upon  Colonel  Abraham  de 
Peyster,  senior  member  of  the  Council.  Captain  Nanfan  shortly 
afterwards  returned  to  New  York  and  remained  in  charge  of  affairs 
until  the  arrival  of  Edward  Hyde,  styled  by  courtesy  Lord  Corn- 
bury,  who  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  Bello- 
mont's death. 

Such  an  eminent  authority  as  the  historian  Macauley,  after  a 
brief  review  of  Bellomont's  career,  declares  that  he  was  a  man  "  of 
eminently  fair  character,  upright,  courageous,  and  independent." 
In  this  opinion  it  would  be  impossible  for  a  conscientious  student 
of  history  not  to  concur.  Beset  in  his  administration  by  difficulties 
the  most  harassing,  maligned  and  misrepresented  to  the  Home 
Government,  lacking  the  support  of  the  most  of  those  in  the 
Province  who  belonged  to  the  wealthy  and  aristocratic  classes,  and 
conscious  that  these  latter  were  continually  intriguing  to  secure  his 
disgrace  and  removal,  he  jet  never  was  tempted  to  swerve  from  his 
duty,  which  he  made  superior  to  every  consideration.  And  there 
is  no  doubt,  had  his  life  been  spared,  that  he  would  have  succeeded 
in  carrying  oat  to  a  successful  ending,  the  numerous  reforms  in  the 
conduct  of  colonial  affairs  which  had  been  so  flatteringly  and 
confidently  entrusted  to  his  management  by  the  King;  and  that 
his  wise  policy  for  improving,  developing  and  harmonizing  the 
interests  of  the  colonies,  would  have  been  productive  of  the  happiest 
results. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  only  to  add  that  a  careful  study  of  the 
history  of  the  period,  has  convinced  me  that  Lord  Bellornont  was 


iicliotype  Printing  Cu  b  ■-■ 


RICHARD,   EARL  OF  BELLOMONT. 


59 


persistently  maligned  and  abused,  solely  because  he  had  an  eye  to 
the  public  service  and  not  to  individual  advancement.  Strange  to 
say,  his  enemies  were  to  be  found  among  all  classes,  a  fact  which,  to 
my  mind,  however,  determines  his  great  honesty  and  independence 
of  character.  Those  engaged  in  illegal  trade  hated  him,  because  he 
was  not  to  be  bribed  or  cajoled  into  tolerating  the  least  infraction  of 
laws.  The  merchants  were  also  his  enemies,  because  he  would  not 
violate  his  obligation  of  office  and  wink  at  their  evasions  of  the 
Acts  of  Trade.  All  opposed  to  Leisler  and  Milborne  were  against 
him,  because  he  carried  out  the  Act  of  Parliament  ordering  that 
justice  be  done  their  memory.  Even  the  greater  part  of  the  clergy 
were  arrayed  against  him  :  those  of  the  Dutch  Church,  because  he 
would  not  tolerate  the  iniquitous  conduct  of  Dellius  ;  and  those  of 
the  English  Church,  because  he  would  not  alienate  a  portion  of  the 
estate  attached  to  the  Governor's  residence.  Thus  it  will  be  seen 
the  private  interests  of  a  large  class  were  opposed  to  the  law ;  and 
Bellomont,  as  the  representative  of  the  law,  and  its  faithful  adminis- 
trator, was  reprobated  and  vilified  by  that  class. 

It  must  not  be  thought  from  this  that  he  had  no  friends  and 
adherents  among  the  colonists.  On  the  contrary,  his  cordiality  and 
fair-dealing  won  for  him  the  esteem  of  all  right-minded  persons ; 
and  by  them  he  was  both  appreciated  and  respected.  His  only 
weapon  in  dealing  with  his  enemies  was  the  truth.  To  him  is 
eminently  applicable  the  famous  lines  of  Horace: 

"Integer  vitee  scelerisque  purus 
Non  eget  Mauri '  jaculis,  neqne  arm 
Nec  venenata  gravida  sagitti.s 
Fusee,  pharetrd  y" 

thus  admirably  translated  by  the  Reverend  Doctor  Erancis : — 

The  Man,  who  knows  not  guilty  Fear, 
Xor  wants  the  Bow,  nor  pointed  Spear  ; 
Xor  needs,  vihile  innocent  at  Heart, 
The  Quiver,  teeming  with  the  poison  d  Dart. 


ERRATA. 


e  6, 

for  Dwitwich 

read 

Droitwich. 

"  indi spitted 

indisputable. 

7. 

fifteenth  line  

' '  who 

which. 

9. 

' '  followiug 

following. 

IO, 

,"  Willliam 

William. 

12, 

"  twarted 

thwarted. 

13, 

eleventh  line,  after  "Holmes' 

should  bs 

a  proper  marginal  reference,  and  at 

foot  of  page  a  note,  giving 

as  authorit 

y,  Gen.  Cust's  Lives  1 

•f  the  Warriors, 

Vol.  II,  p.  482. 

13, 

[Note]*  should  read  The  Old  Streets 

of  New  York  undo 

the  Dutch,  by 

James  W.  Gerard. 

14, 

[Note]  *  should  read  Davies' 

History  of  Holland. 

16, 

for  Dominic 

read 

Dominie. 

17, 

' '  latter 

later. 

19, 

"  gereral 

general. 

21, 

"  out 

on. 

22, 

"  Colombus 

Columbus. 

" 

"  whit  It 

with. 

25. 

"  Kidd 

"A    full  Ac- 

count  of  the  Proceedings  in 

relation  to  Capt.  Kidd  ;  in 

two  Letters  Written 

by  a  person  of  Quality  to  a 

Kinsman 

of  the  Earl  of  Bellomont  in  Ireland. 

[London  ;  MDCCL] 

27, 

for  Oxford 

read 

Orford. 

twenty-ninth  line  

' '  have 

have  had. 

30, 

' '  Freneh 

French. 

31- 

"  unsuallv 

unusually. 

34, 

' '  Govcrner 

Governor. 

49, 

"  Oxford, 

Orford. 

50, 

"  chaffing 

chafing. 

53, 

' '  his 

is. 

54, 

' '  England 

New  England. 

' '  Bishops 

Bishop. 

55, 

"  than  that 

than  of  that. 

' '  obtaind 

obtained. 

' '  Classes 

Classis. 

"  Bishops 

Bishop. 

APPENDIX. 


OF  BELLOMONT 


PEYSTER. 


[Originals  in  the  possession  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society.] 


Boston,  the  gth  of  Jariy,  [16]  'gg. 

Sr.  I  have  yours  of  the  26th  of  last  month,  and  desire  you  will  be  as  good 
as  your  word  in  getting  the  four  hatts  made,  and  sent  to  Barbadoes. 

I  desire  you  will  deliver  the  Inclosed  Letter  to  Mr.  Latham  with  your 
own  hand,  and  pray  Incourage  him  all  you  can  to  proceed  upon  cutting  the 
Ship  Timber  that  I  have  directed  him.  I  have  got  the  sizes  and  scantlings  of 
such  Timber  as  will  be  proper  for  the  King's  use,  and  have  now  sent  an  acc't 
of  them  to  Mr.  Latham.  You  will  do  well  to  Injoyn  Mr.  Latham  to  take 
speciall  care  to  cut  none  but  such  as  is  principall  and  choice  Timber,  and  to  do 
it  as  cheaply  as  he  can  reasonably  afford  it.  It  behooves  you  to  take  some  pains 
with  Latham,  so  that-  the  King  may  be  compensated  for  putting  the  ship 
Fortune  upon  him,  which  I  am  in  some  apprehension  the  Ministers  will  resent 
as  a  misconduct  in  the  Lt.  Governor  and  Councill  of  N.  York ;  and  there  is  no 
way  of  repairing  the  King,  but  by  sending  him  that  Ship's  Loading  of  choice 
Timber,  and  at  a  cheap  rate. 

As  to  the  report  of  my  Lord  Cornbery's*  coming  over  Governor,  if  it 
were  true  I  should  be  very  easy ;  but  I  do  not  at  all  believe  it,  the  more  for  its 
comeing  from  Dellius,  who,  we  all  know,  has  a  notable  Talent  at  lying. 


*  Lord  Cornbi'RV  succeeded  3d  May,  1702,  after  the  death  of  Beli.omont. 


LETTERS  FROM  THE  EARL 

TO 

COLONEL  ABRAHAM  de 


ii 


APPENDIX. 


I  cannot  draw  Bills  of  Exchange  for  money  in  Engl'd  till  I  have  advice 
that  the  arrear  Due  to  the  souldiers  is  received.  There  came  a  ship  in  here 
from  England  on  Sunday  last,  after  twelve  weeks'  passage,  but  I  had  not  one 
letter  by  her.  The  Master  tells  me  that  Capt.  Mason,  Master  of  the  ship 
Bellomont,  had  severall  packets  for  me  ;  he  was  sailing  out  of  the  Downs, 
along  with  this  ship,  but  the  wind  chopping  about,  he  fears  Capt.  Mason  was 
forced  back  again. 

I  am  heartily  glad  of  your  good  Luck,  in  your  ships  comeing  in  from  the 
Madeiras,  at  a  time  when  there  is  such  a  scarcity  of  wine  at  N.  York. 

I  desire  you  will  make  some  safe  bargains  w'th  Mr.  Latham,  and  furnish 
him  with  money.  I  shall  by  next  post  write  to  Coll.  CORTLAND  to  pay  you  all 
the  arrears  of  my  salary.  I  wish  you  would  take  a  copy  of  my  Letter  to  Mr 
Latham,  which  I  have  not  time  now  to  send  you.  My  Service  to  Madm. 
D-  Peyster.  I  am 

Your  humble  Servant, 

BELLOMONT. 


Boston,  the  22nd  /any,  [16]  'pp. 

Sr.  I  have  got  the  gout  in  my  right  hand,  and  cannot  yet  write  to  you  my 
Self.  The  Pipe  of  wine  last  come  from  the  Madeiras,  must  be  delivered  to  my 
Cousin  Nanfan,  but  the  Box  of  Sweets*  is  a  present  from  Mr.  Bolton,  the 
Consul,  to  my  Wife  ;  therefore  I  desire  you  will  send  it  by  the  first  opportunity 
to  her. 

I  recommended  your  business  with  Mr.  Van  Sweeting  to  my  Lord  Chan- 
cellor and  Mr.  Secretary  Vernon,  and  drew  up  a  state  of  your  case  with  my 
own  hand,  as  well  as  I  could,  and  sent  to  each  of  them  ;  but  then  your  freinds 
that  solicits  your  business  in  London,  must  apply  to  my  Lord  Chancellor  and 
Mr.  Secretary,  with  great  Caution  and  discretion ;  for  men  of  their  upright 
character  will  not  care  to  be  solicited  in  a  matter  of  that  nature.  Our  last  ship 
went  for  England  about  Ten  days  ago,  so  that  I  cannot  have  an  opportunity  of 
writing  again  about  that  business  of  yours  till  Spring. 

I  desire  you  will  not  faile  to  take  a  speciall  care  about  the  Ship  Timber, 
which  I  writ  to  you  of  last  post,  for  I  look  upon  my  Reputation  to  be  much 
concerned  in  that  matter. 

I  send  you  a  Copy  of  Mr.  Bolton's  Letter  to  me,  that  you  may  see  what 


*  The  word  is  doubtful. 


APPENDIX. 


iii 


lie  writes,  and  what  he  Challenges  as  due  to  him  upon  the  Balance  of  the 
account. 

I  hear  the  Jacobite  party  in  N.  York  have  named  a  new  Governor,  before 
the  King  ha's  thought  fit  to  name  one ;  and  I  am  also  told  they  lay  Waggers 
that  I  shall  not  go  any  more  to  N.  York ;  but  for  all  that,  I  desire  you  will 
bespeak  me  Two  pipes  of  good  ale  and  Two  pipes  of  small  beer  at  Albany  or 
Schenectady,  which  I  would  have  laid  in  at  N.  York,  against  my  goeing  thither. 
Pray  charge  the  man  you  bespeak  it  of  to  boyle  it  very  well,  and  to  make  it  as 
good  as  possibly  he  can. 

I  have  writ  to  Coll.  Cortlandt,  by  the  post,  to  pay  you  what  money  is 
due  to  me  of  my  salary,  which  I  desire  you  will  call  to  him  for.  My  Service  to 
dadam  De  Peyster. 

I  am,  your  humble  Servant, 

BELLOMONT. 


Boston,  the 5th  of  Feb'y,  [16]  '99. 

Sr.  I  have  your  letter  of  the  22d  of  last  month,  but  have  rec'd  no  Letter 
from  Mr.  Latham,  as  you  made  me  expect,  by  this  post.  The  Scantlings  of 
Ship  Timber  I  mentioned  in  my  Letter  to  him,  are  for  a  first-rate  Man-of-War. 
If  he  cannot  get  Timber  of  so  large  a  size,  I  would  have  him  get  as  near  those 
sizes  as  he  can,  for,  the  bigger  and  larger,  the  better.  If  he  does  not  make 
haste  to  cut  the  Timber,  he  will  lose  the  proper  season  of  the  year ;  therefore, 
I  beg  of  you  to  hasten  him  all  that  ever  you  can,  and  give  him  Incouragement 
that  I  will  be  very  kind  to  him  if  he  uses  me  faithfully  and  well  in  the  Ship 
Timber. 

I  have  writ  very  pressingly  to  Coll.  CORTLANDT  to  pay  you  my  full  arrear 
of  Salary,  which  I  hope  he  will  do,  especially  if  you  Dun  him  a  little  for  it. 

If  the  other  Hatter  you  mention  will  make  the  four  Hatts  I  bespoke  as  well 
as  Yarrixgton,  I  shall  be  satisfied  that  he  make  them. 

The  Two  Merchant  Ships  that  have  Letters  for  me  from  England,  are  not 
yet  arrived,  but  the  advice  Man-of-War,  a  4th  rate,  Capt.  W\'NN,  Commander 
arrived  here  last  Saturday,  in  six  weeks,  from  Portsmouth,  and  brought  me 
orders  from  the  King  to  send  home  all  the  Pyrates  and  their  Effects.  The 
Ministers  continue  to  write  to  me  with  great  Kindness,  and  tell  me  the  King  is 
very  well  pleased  with  my  administration  in  my  Governments.  If  the  angrv 
Gentlemen  of  N.  York  have  their  Intelligence  from  better  hands  than  the  King's 
Ministers,  or  of  a  Later  Date  than  the  10th  of  last  December,  then  I  shall 


iv 


APPENDIX. 


believe  they  are  very  deep  in  the  secrets  of  the  Cabinet ;  and  if  they  can  prevail 
by  their  Interest  to  make  a  new  Govemour  of  New  York,  with  all  my  heart 
what  please  the  King  shall  please  me.    Our  Service  to  Madam  De  Peyster. 

I  am, 

Your  humble  Servant, 

BELLOMONT. 


Boston,  the  igth  Feb'y,  /6pp. 

Sir.  I  find  the  Letters  which  I  writ  to  England  about  your  business,  are 
rec'd,  for  I  have  answer  to  them. 

I  am  very  thankful  to  you  for  your  care  in  Imploying  Mr.  Latham  to 
provide  the  Ship  Timber.  I  desire  you  will  continue  your  care  in  Incouraging 
of  him  to  the  speedy  and  exact  performance  of  that  service,  wherein  you  can 
never  oblige  me  more  as  long  as  you  live.  If  I  imploy  any  body  at  New  York 
to  go  home  Master  of  the  ship  Fortune,  it  shall  be  that  Symmons  that  you 
mention,  because  you  recommend  him ;  but  I  would  not  absolutely  engage 
myself  to  him  as  yet,  because  possibly  some  reason  may  offer  in  the  meantime 
why  he  may  not  be  so  proper  a  man  for  such  a  Trust. 

I  desire  you  will  take  care  to  send  the  Inclos'd  to  Mr.  BOLTON,  the  Consul 
of  the  Madeiras  ;  and  that  you  will  also  send  the  money  he  charges  in  his  acc't 
as  due  by  me  to  him.  I  have  sent  to  him  for  three  pipes  of  wine — one  whereof 
I  have  bespoke  to  be  white  Madeira.  I  desire  you  will  give  the  Master  of  your 
ship  particular  charge  of  my  pipes  of  wine,  and  that  you  will  send  as  much 
money  in  Bits*  as  will  pay  for  those  three  pipes. 

My  Cousin  Nanfan  will  show  you  part  of  a  Letter  from  one  of  the  King's 
Ministers  to  me,  by  this  Man-of-War,  w'ch  I  have  already  copied  exactly  from 
the  said  Letter.  I  do  assure  you  I  have  had  Letters  by  the  same  ship  from 
almost  all  the  Ministers,  full  of  expressions  of  kindness,  and  approving  of  and 
Commending  up  my  Administration  in  my  Governments. 

My  Service  I  pray  to  Madam  De  Peyster. 

I  was  yesterday  on  horseback,  and  rid  four  or  five  miles,  but  am  yet  weak, 
especially  in  my  hands,  so  that  I  cannot  write  without  Trouble. 

I  am, 

Your  humble  Servant, 

BELLOMONT. 

*  Bits— Probably  Pistareens  (Spanish  and  West  Indian),  of  which  there  were  as  many  as  a  half 
dozen  (or  more)  kinds,  bearing  different  dates  and  varying  slightly  in  value — from  16  to  18  cents  U.  S. 
currency. 


APPENDIX.  V 

Boston,  the  ijth  of  March,  [16]  'pp. 

Sir.  I  am  heartily  vex'd  to  understand  from  my  Cousin  Nanfan  that 
Latham  has  not  yet  cut  the  Timber  I  directed,  for  now  the  Spring  is  so 
forward  that  they  will  perceive,  when  it  comes  into  England,  that  the  Timber 
was  not  cut  in  the  proper  season.  This  will  be  reckoned  a  fault  in  me,  that 
after  I  have  given  an  account  home  of  my  design  of  sending  that  Ship  Loaden 
w'th  Ship  Timber,  I  should  come  off  so  poorly  as  to  send  what  is  not  good  or  in 
season.    I  fear  this  neglect  in  Latham  is  not  to  be  retriev'd. 

I  shall  not  venture  to  order  the  money  you  writ  about  in  your  last  letter  for 
bringing  stores  from  England  formerly,  till  I  go  to  New  York,  and  then  advise 
with  the  Council  about  it. 

I  have  writ  to  my  Cousin  Nan  fan  to  appoint  Mr.  Walters  Judge  in 
your  stead  pro  hac  vice*  I  am  quite  out  of  money  here,  and  must  draw  on 
Coll.  Courtlandt  for  50^,  unless  you  have  received  my  Salary  from  him. 
Our  Service  to  Madam  De  Peyster.  I  am, 

Your  humble  Servant, 

Coll.  De  Peyster.  BELLOMONT. 


Pescataqua,  jd  Aug.,  [16]  'pp. 

Sir.  I  hope  this  Letter  will  find  you  safely  arriv'd  at  York,  where  I  wish 
you  may  meet  your  family  and  friends  in  good  health. 

I  desire  you  will  not  faile  to  send  me  a  copy  of  the  French  Lady's  letter  to 
her  Paramour,  Mr.  Dellius,  about  the  big  belly  she  lays  to  his  charge ;  and,  if 
it  be  possible  to  recover  the  original  Letter,  I  desire  you  will  get  it  for  me,  and 
send  it  by  the  first  post.  I  intend,  next  post,  to  write  to  Coll.  Courtlandt, 
to  pay  you  the  arrear  of  my  Salary,  and  also  the  growing  Income  thereof 
monethly,  as  it  becomes  due.  I  have  not  time  now  to  write  to  him.  I  wish  you 
would  tell  Mr.  LEISLER  that  I  cannot  move  the  King  to  get  his  father's  debt 
order'd  to  be  paid,  for  want  of  Governeur's  and  other  people's  testimony,  on 
oath,  that  they  saw  Capt.  Leisler's  bookes  and  that  there  was  such  a  sum 
due,  as  Dr.  Staats  and  Governeur  told  me;  but  the  sum  they  mention'd 
I  have  forgot.  Let  this  be  done  Immediately,  if  they  are  able  to  Swear  to  it ; 
it  must  be  drawn  up  handsomely,  that  I  may  transmit  it  to  England. 

I  desire  you  will  find  out  some  honest,  able  ship  carpenter  at  York,  to  send 
along  with  Ryer  Schermerhoorn,  to  view  the  woods  on  Mr.  Dellius's 


*  "Pro  hac  vice." — "  For  this  term,"  or,  "  For  this  time  ;"  1.  e.  "  For  this  occasion." 
Col.  De  Peyster  and  Roiiekt  Walters  were  Puisne  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court. 


vi 


APPENDIX. 


biggest  Grant,*  and  to  bring  me  an  exact  account  whether  there  be  any  Pine  or 
fir  Trees  big  enough  or  long  enough  for  Masts  for  the  King's  ships  of  War,  from 
30  inches  to  48  inches  in  diameter,  and  whether  there  grow  any  quantity,  and 
how  convenient  for  a  water  carriage.  That  is,  whether  they  grow  near  the  river, 
that  they  may  be  floated  down  the  river  to  York.  He  must  be  very  particular 
in  his  account  and  very  exact,  that  I  may  send  it  to  England ;  and  I  would  have 
him  also  bring  an  account  what  other  sorts  of  well  grown  Timber  Trees  of  oak 
or  other  trees  he  meets  with  there,  and  he  must  go  over  all  that  Land  to  view 
the  woods,  which  I  would  have  him  put  into  writing.  Therefore,  the  man  you 
send  ought  to  know  how  to  write.  There  was  also  some  other  part  of  the 
Country  which  R.YER  SCHERMERHOORN,  and,  I  thinke,  the  Mayor  of  Albany, 
told  me  of,  where  they  said  there  grew  good  masts  for  ships.  I  desire  you  will 
appoint  the  Carpenter  to  go  thither  along  with  Ryer;  also,  I  leave  it  with  you 
to  make  the  bargain  with  the  Carpenter,  and  I  will  perform  it  with  him ;  and  if 
he  wants  money  to  bear  his  charges,  I  desire  you  will  advance  it,  and  stop  it 
out  of  my  Salary.  Pray  send  the  account  as  it  stands  between  you  and  me. 
I  desire  you  will  take  all  possible  care  to  preserve  the  ship  Fortune,  and  I  will 
send  her  to  England,  next  Spring,  with  naval  stores  to  the  King.  Let  me  hear 
from  you  every  post.  Myne,  with  my  wife's  kind  Service  to  your  selfe  and 
Madam  De  Peyster. 

I  am     Your  very  affectionate  Servant, 

BELLOMONT. 

1  have  receiv'd  your  Letter  from  Boston.  I  desire  to  know  when  the  next 
ship  goes  to  England,  that  I  may  send  the  pipe  of  wine. 


Boston,  21  Aug.  [16J  qq. 

Sir.  I  am  very  glad  of  your  safe  arrival  at  York,  and  I  must  tell  you  we 
misse  you  here,  where  you  are  in  the  favor  and  good  opinion  of  every  body. 
If  Dr.  Staats  and  Mr.  GovERNEUR'sf  memories  are  too  short  in  respect  to 
the  debt  due  to  Capt.  Leisler,  I  know  not  which  way  to  move  the  King  in 
behalf  of  Mr.  Leisler,  for,  unlesse  the  debt  can  be  ascertained,  it  would  be 
most  ridiculous  for  me  to  ask  the  King  to  refund  to  the  heir  of  Capt.  LEISLER 
a  debt  of  I  know  not  what  sum.    Therefore  I  advise  you  to  call  Mr.  LEISLER, 


*  See  Smith's  History  of  New  i'ori,  paje  159,  Edition  (Albany)  in  1  Vol.  of  1814. 
t  Abraham  GOUVERNBUK,  Member  from  Orange  County;  married  Gov.  Leisler's  daughter,  the 
widow  of  Milborne. 


APPENDIX. 


vii 


Dr.  Staats,  and  Mr.  Walters  and  Mr.  Governeur  together,  and  see  what 
they  can  say  to  refresh  one  another's  memory  in  that  matter;  otherwise  it  will 
be  Impossible  for  me  to  do  Mr.  Leisler  the  Service  I  am  desirous  to  do  him. 

I  would  willingly  send  my  pipe  of  wine  to  England,  but  JEFFERS  is  so 
Crosse  a  fellow,  and  not  my  friend,  that  I  am  not  willing  to  venture  it  by  him, 
least  he  should  play  tricks  with  it  out  of  spite  to  me  :  but,  where  there  is  a  good 
opportunity,  I  will  desire  the  favor  of  you  to  have  it  shipp'd,  and  sent  to  England. 
My  Cousin,  Nanfan,  has  the  key  to  the  Cellar  where  the  pipe  of  wine  is ;  it  was 
left  by  John,  my  butler,  with  Robert,  the  Coachman's  Wife.  You  may  Call 
to  'em  for  it,  and  send  the  wine  when  you  see  convenient ;  but  I  believe  the 
pipe  must  be  fill'd  up,  which  I  desire  may  be  done  with  good  wine.  When  the 
ship  is  almost  ready  to  saile  let  me  know,  that  I  may  write  a  letter,  to  the  person 
I  send  the  pipe  of  wine  to  in  England. 

I  desire  you  will  let  me  know  pr  next  post  whether  the  battery  which 
Coll.  Fletcher  sold,  or  granted  away  to  Ebenezer  Wilson,  be  entirely  built 
on  in  N.  York,  and  whose  land  it  was  he  made  batteries  on  in  the  war  time. 
Mr.  Leisler  I  believe  was  one,  and  I  think  a  quaker  another — George 
Heathcote  is  the  Quaker's  name,  as  I  thinke.  But,  pray,  inform  your  selfe 
of  this  particularly,  and  let  me  know. 

You  must  by  all  means  get  me  that  Letter  from  the  woman  in  Canada  to 
Dellius,  and  send  it  me  by  next  post,  if  it  be  possible,  for 't  will  be  of  great 
use  to  me. 

I  am  not  at  all  pleased  with  your  present  Sheriffe,  De  Rymer.*  I  hear  he 
returns  such  Juries  as  do  the  King  all  the  wrong  in  the  world,  upon  all  the 
Tryals  of  unlawful  things  and  goods.  I  know  not  whether  I  have  reason  to 
like  Governeur  better  than  De  Rymer.  The  not  sending  home  an  agent 
from  the  Assembly  to  withstand  the  Indeavors  of  Bayard  Dellius,  and  all 
the  knaves  of  that  party,  was  the  foolishest  step  that  was  ever  made.  I  told 
Dr.  Staats  enough  of  it,  but  could  not  get  him  to  apprehend  the  Importance 
of  it ;  and,  it  seem'd  to  me,  that  Volatile  Speaker,  Governeur,  acted  in 
concert  with  his  Predecessor,  and  was  false  to  his  party.  New  York  is  an 
unhappy  place,  that  there  is  not  better  choice  of  men  to  serve  the  King  and 
their  Country.  My  wife  fell  very  ill  on  the  road  between  Pescattaqua  and  this 
place ;  but,  I  thank  God,  is  somewhat  better.  Our  kind  Service  to  Madam 
De  Peyster  ;  mine  to  Dr.  Staats,  Mr.  Walters,  and  your  brother.  Pray 
let  me  hear  from  you  what  passes  at  York ;  and,  be  assured  that,  I  am, 
Your  very  affectionate  friend  and  serv't, 

BELLOMONT. 


*  This  must  be  de  Riemer.    See  V.  H.  N.  Y.,  page  233. 


viii 


APPENDIX. 


Mr.  Schermerhoorn,  whom  I  writ  to,  to  go  and  view  some  trees  fit  for 
masts  for  the  King's  ships,  and  send  me  word  where  they  grew,  and  of  what 
bigness  they  were,  has  answered  my  Letter,  but  tells  me  not  where  the  trees 
grow,  only  says  there  are  a  good  store,  and  large  enough  for  the  King's  use. 
He  desires  I  would  grant  him  and  the  Mayor  of  Albany  the  Land  where  they 
grow,  w'ch  is  6  miles  long  and  2  broad,  which  is  making  a  bargain  with  the 
King,  and  not  dealing  candidly  with  me.  Pray,  chide  him  and  the  Mayor  of 
Albany  for  their  disrespect  to  the  King,  and  disingenueity  to  me.  Besides, 
I  have  complain'd  to  the  King  of  Coll.  Fletcher's  extravagant  Grant's  of 
Lands — and  shall  I  commit  the  same  fault  and  absurdity  my  selfe,  that  I  have 
accus'd  Fletcher?  Pray,  let  me  know  whether  Dr.  Staats  is  likely  to 
prevail  with  LUPARDUS  and  NUCELLA,  to  write  to  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam 
and  the  Dutch  Ministers  in  London,  to  prevent  DELLIUS's  ill  designs  and 
Lyings.    Pray,  send  me  a  barrel  of  the  best  flour  by  the  first  sloop. 


Boston,  28th  Aug.,  [16]  'pp. 

Sir.  I  thank  you  kindly  for  your  Care  in  Imploying  Latham  to  go  and 
view  the  woods  along  with  Mr.  SCHERMERHOORN.  Mr.  Leisler*  being  here, 
I  will  make  up  of  Dr.  Staats  and  Mr.  Governeur's  affidavits,  for  his  Interest 
and  Service,  and  will  send  them  to  such  hands  in  England  as  will  make,  I  hope, 
a  right  use  of  them. 

I  have  not  now  Time  to  look  over  your  account,  though  I  am  under  no 
doubt  with  you — (having  an  entire  opinion  of  your  sincerity  and  uprightnesse) — 
nor  yet  to  order  Coll.  Courtlandt  to  satisfie  my  debt  to  you ;  but  by  next 
post  you  may  expect  it. 

I  will  not  faile  to  write  to  the  Ministers,  in  whom  I  have  an  Interest,  in 
your  behalf ;  and  will  transmit  them  a  state  of  your  Case,  exactly  as  you  have 
now  sent  it  to  me.  I  am  now  engaged  in  preparing  packets  for  England,  to 
send  by  a  ship  that  will  go  the  end  of  this  week  or  beginning  of  the  next ;  and 
then  you  shall  not  be  forgot.  My  wife  and  I  present  our  kind  service  to  Madam 
De  PEYSTER.  She  bids  me  tell  you  the  Letter  Madam  De  Peyster  was  to 
write  to  her  is  forgot,  and  she  upbraids  you  for  deluding  her  w'th  such  false 
hopes.  I  am, 

Your  very  affectionate  friend  and  servant, 

BELLOMONT. 

♦Son  of  the  "  remarkable "  and  deservedly  distinguished  Gov'r,  Jacob  Leisler,  executed  for 
treason  in  i6gi,  whose  innocence  was  subsequently  established,  the  attainder  reversed,  and  his  properly 
restored  to  his  family  through  the  exertions  of  his  son— by  whom  the  loyalty  of  his  father  and  of  his 
brother-in-law,  Milbokne,  and  the  machinations  of  their  enemies,  were  plainly  made  manifest. 


APPENDIX. 


ix 


[On  the  back  of  the  letter  is  the  following :] 

Mr.  Weaver  is  certainly  Collector  of  N.  York,  and  has  the  King's  Com- 
mission for  it,  as  Sr.  John  Stanley  writes  me  a  word  in  a  Letter  I  rec'd 
from  him  this  last  week ;  and  Mr.  Weaver  writes  in  his  last  Letter  he  had 
kissed  the  King's  hand  for  it,  and  had  got  the  King's  Warrant  for  preparing  his 
Commission  under  the  Great  seal  of  England.  I  hope  you  have  prevail'd  w'th 
Dr.  STAATS,  and  those  that  have  an  Influence  on  Mr.  NUCELLA  and  LUPAP.DUS, 
to  get  them  to  write  to  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam  to  defeat  Dellius's  knavish 
designs.  The  LEISLER  party  had  clone  well  to  have  subscrib'd  Certificates 
against  Df.LLIUS,  as  his  friends  did  for  him,  and  to  have  sent  them  to  me. 


Boston,  4th  Sept.,  [16]  'gg. 

Sir.  I  cannot  perform  my  promise  of  Looking  over  your  account  as  yet, 
for  I  am  Ingaged  at  present,  and  have  been  so  all  this  last  week,  in  writing 
packets  or  volumes  of  Letters  to  England  by  a  ship  that  pretends  she  stays 
for  me. 

I  writ  to  my  Cousin  Nanfan,  last  post,  to  Let  the  City  of  N.  York  have  ye 
stones  of  the  old  bastion  or  batteries  To  build  their  Town-house. 

I  am  not  dissatisfied  with  the  Sheriffe,  since  my  Cousin  NANFAN*  and  you 
vouch  so  for  his  honesty;  but  he  should  have  taken  more  care  of  But'KMASTER. 

I  have  writ  to  my  Cousin  Nanfan,  this  post,  my  reasons  why  it  will  not 
be  fitt  to  Continue  the  same  Mayor  and  Sheriffe  another  year  for  the  city 
of  N.  York. 

As  soon  as  you  receive  the  original,  or  a  Copy  of  the  Letter  to  Dellius 
from  the  French  woman  at  Canada,  I  desire  you  will  not  fail  to  send  it  To 

Your  very  affectionate  Servant, 

BELLOMONT. 

Our  Service  I  pray  to  Madam  De  Peyster. 

Mr.  LEISLER  tells  me  an  ugly  story  of  Mr.  Graham's  design  of  Cheating 
him  of  a  house-plot  at  N.  York.  I  desire  you  will  send  for  Mr.  Walters 
privately,  and  advise  him  to  Caution  old  Mrs.  Leisler  (with  whom  her  son  has 


X 


APPENDIX. 


left  a  Generall  Letter  of  Attorney)  not  to  part  with  that  piece  of  ground  to 
GRAHAM,  nor  anything  else.  That  man  will  undo  himself  with  his  knavish 
Tricks.  One  would  thinke  he  has  guilt  enough  on  his  head,  for  being  the 
Principall  author  of  the  murther  of  Leisler  and  Milburn  ;  but,  it  seems, 
bathing  his  hands  in  the  blood  of  the  Father  is  not  enough,  but  he  will  also 
cheat  the  son.  I  am  content  that  you  show  this  Letter  to  Mr.  Walters  ;  and 
pray  get  him  to  send  me  affidavid  of  Mr.  Graham's  Insinuations  to  his  Father, 
Leisler,  and  himselfe,  to  procure  their  Interest  to  be  chosen  a  member  of  the 
Assembly ;  w'ch  they  were  prevail'd  with  to  do,  and  afterwards  he  became 
Leisler's  and  Milburn's  mortall  Enemy.  This  account  Mr.  Walters  told 
me  once  or  twice. 

Dr.  STAATS  also  told  me  how  he  was  affronted,  and  threatened  by  a  Papist 
in  the  field,  when  the  Election  was  of  members  to  serve  in  New  York,  in  that 
very  Assembly  that  worried  Mr.  Leisler  and  Milburn  to  death,  under  the 
conduct  of  Mr.  Graham.  Let  me  also  have  Dr.  Staats'  affidavit  of  that ; 
and  some  proof  of  Maj.  Treadwell's  imprisonment  to  hinder  either  his  being 
Chose,  or  his  sitting  in  Assembly  after  he  was  Chose.  If  it  be  possible,  let  me 
have  these  evidences  next  post. 


Boston,  Sept.  pth,  [16]  'pp. 

Sir.  I  have  receiv'd  yours  of  the  4th  Inst.,  and  will  not  faile  to  write  to 
England  ab't  your  affair  with  Van  Sweeton  w'th  this  packet,  w'ch  I  am  to 
send  away  within  4  or  5  days. 

I  am  very  sorry  I  have  not  the  Letter  to  DELLIUS  to  send  home.  I  desire 
you  will  speak  to  Mr.  WALTERS  to  deliver  you  upon  oath  what  was  transacted 
between  Mr.  Graham  and  him  at  the  time  Graham  prevail'd  w'th  Capt. 
Leisler  and  him  to  make  an  interest  for  Graham's  being  chose  to  the 
Assembly,  that  press'd  Coll.  Slaughter  to  take  away  the  lives  of  Capt. 
Leisler  and  Mr.  Milburn,  as  I  writ  to  you  in  my  last  Letter.  And,  pray, 
get  Dr.  Staats'  affidavit,  as  I  desir'd  in  that  Letter.  'T  is  wonderfull  to  me 
that  Dr.  Staats  and  the  rest  of  Leisler's  Party  have  not,  in  all  this  time,  got 
counter-subscriptions,  sign'd  by  their  party,  at  Albany,  against  DELLIUS,  as  the 
other  party  got  subscriptions  in  favor  of  DELLIUS.  They  are  just  the  people 
that  Will.  Nichols  paints  Staats  to  be,  in  his  pamphlet,  Impenetrable 
B  .  [blockheads?] 


APPENDIX. 


xi 


When  you  hear  any  news  from  Schermekhoorn  ab't  the  Trees  for 
masts;  pray  let  me  know  it.  My  wife's  and  my  Service  to  Madam  De  Peyster. 

I  am, 

Your  affectionate  friend  and  servant, 

BELLOMONT. 

I  have  writ  to  Coll.  Courtlandt  to  pay  you  my  arrear  of  Salary,  and  for 
ye  time  to  come  to  pay  it  to  you  monthly, 'as  it  grows  due. 
Coll.  De  Peyster. 

» 


Boston,  the  joth  Oct.,  [16J  'gg. 

Sir.  I  desire  vou  will  immediately  send  for  Mr.  Latham,  the  ship 
Carpenter,  and  Ingage  him  to  set  about  Cutting  and  Squaring  such  a  quantity 
of  Ship  Timber  as  will  load  the  Ship  Fortune  against  the  Spring,  when  I  will 
send  her  so  loaden  to  Portsmouth,  in  England,  for  the  use  of  the  King's  Navy. 
The  question  will  be,  whether  Latham  be  well  affected  and  honest,  and  will 
cut  such  Timber  as  is  choice  Timber.  The  four  sorts  w'ch  I  understand  are 
fitted  to  be  sent  to  England,  are  knees,  planks,  beams,  and  wale  pieces.  The 
next  best  thing  to  the  cutting  of  principall  Choice  Timber,  is  the  doing  of  it 
Cheap — wherein  I  desire  you  will  contrive  all  the  ways  you  can  think  of,  for  my 
credit.  If  3  or  4  souldiers  will  be  useful  to  Mr.  Latham  to  help  in  felling  of 
Trees,  my  Cousin  Nanfan,  upon  sight  of  this  Letter,  will  order  so  many  of 
them,  if  so  many  can  be  found  that  will  or  can  work ;  and  I  will  allow  such 
souldiers  4  shills.  per  week  over  and  above  their  present  subsistence.  Pray, 
take  more  than  ordinary  pains  to  agree  w'th  Latham  at  as  cheap  a  rate  as 
possibly  you  can.    My  wife's  and  my  kind  Service  to  Madam  De  Peyster. 

I  am, 

Yr.  very  affect,  friend  and  servant, 

BELLOMONT. 

[On  the  back  of  the  Letter  is  the  following  :\ 

I  will  not  fail  to  recommend  you  to  England,  for  the  supplying  the  frigat  at 
N.  York ;  and  I  hope  ere  long  to  Imploy  you  in  a  businesse  that  will  be  five 
times  more  profitable  than  that.  Pray,  write  me  word,  next  post,  what  agree- 
ment Latham  and  you  are  like  to  come  to.  I  would  have  you  acquaint  my 
Cousin  Nanfan  w'th  the  steps  you  make  in  that  matter,  and  take  his  advice  in 
every  p'ticular  ab't  it. 


xii 


APPENDIX. 


I  hope  you  have  taken  care  to  return  another  ioo^  to  Mr.  PALMER,  in 
beaver  skins,  or  logwood,  or  something ;  and  if  you  have  not  done  it,  I  desire 
you  will  not  faile  to  do  it  by  next  ship,  and  send  me  word  of  it  with  the  master's 
and  ship's  name,  that  I  may  give  Mr.  PALMER'S  advice  of  it  from  hence. 


[  This  is  another  Letter — date  gone.\ 

I  have  rec'd  yours  of  the  8th  Inst.,  and  have  writ  to  my  Cousin  Nanfan, 
to  stand  by  and  support  Latham  in  cutting  and  bringing  away  the  Timber. 
I  have  letters  from  England  by  Mason,  but  the  dates  so  stale  that  the  news 
and  accounts  must  be  so  too.  The  Ministers  seem  pleas'd  with  the  act  of 
Assembly  of  N.  York  for  vacating  the  extravagant  Grants  of  Lands.  We  have 
no  news  of  Mr.  Goodwin's  receit  of  the  50^  you  remitted  to  London  for  my 
wife.  Pray,  let  me  know  if  your  Correspondent  has  given  you  any  account  of 
paying  that  money. 

I  have  writ  to  Coll.  COURTLANDT,  this  post,  to  quicken  him  in  paying  you 
all  that  is  due  of  my  salary — tho'  he  has  promis'd,  in  his  letter,  this  post,  to  do 
it  out  of  the  first  money  he  receives.  In  his  account  sent  out  a  month  ago,  he 
charges  me  with  300^,  which  I  order'd  to  be  paid  to  Coll.  Schuyler,  for 
victualling,  soon  after  coming  into  that  province ;  but  I  have  now  writ  to  my 
Cousin  Nanfan,  to  p'cure  an  order  of  Council  for  placing  that  debt  on  the 
Revenue,  there  being  no  reason  in  the  world  I  should  pay  it  out  of  my  salary. 
Therefore,  there  will  be  300^  more  for  you  to  receive  for  me — only  that  I  am 
willing  to  Lend  my  Co.  Nanfan  50^  of  it.    I  desire  you  will  not  faile  to    .  . 

 for  charging  that  sum  and  when  that's  done,  to 

solicite  Coll.  COURTLANDT  for  the  payment  of  that,  and  all  the  rest  of  my 
arrear  of  salary  to  you. 

My  wife  desires  yours  and  Madam  De  Peyster's  care  in  Looking  after 
the  necklace  of  pearl.  She  has  sent  you  a  role  of  Tobacco  lately,  sent  me  from 
Virginia,  by  Coll.  JENNINGS,  w'ch  she  hopes  will  prove  as  sweet-scented  as  any 
you  have  smoak'd  this  long  time.  'T  is  deliver'd  to  one  TELLER,  the  master  of 
a  sloop,  which  is  to  sail  the  first  fair  wind  to  N.  York. 

Pray,  take  care  about  providing  suitable  goods  for  the  Indians,  against  my 
going  to  Albany,  as  I  desired  you  in  my  last.  Our  affectionate  service  to 
Madam  De  Peyster. 

I  am  your  affectionate  friend,  and  humble  servant, 

BELLOMONT. 


APPENDIX. 


xiii 


Pray,  do  not  fail  to  speak  to  my  Co.  NANFAN.'to  order  Coll.  Courtlandt 
to  pay  you  the  price  of  the  ship  Nassau,  w'ch  Mr.  Graham  gave  his  opinion 
belonged  wholly  to  me,  as  being  a  wreck,  and  Mr.  Newton  is  of  the  same 
opinion  here.  There's  no  reason  Coll.  Courtlandt  should  keep  the  money 
all  this  while  in  his  hands,  and  I  perceive  he  would  willingly  to  the  end  of  the 
Chapter. 

Coll.  Hamilton  writes  to  a  person  in  this  Town  that  the  faction  .  .  .  k 
desire  that  De  ....  not  return  to 'Albany.  Pray,  let  me  know  how  you 
feel  by  that  piece  of  news. 


Boston,  the  24th. 

Sir.  I  have  rec'd,  this  post,  your  Letters  of  the  8th  and  18th  Inst.,  and 
am  glad  you  have  Imployed  Mr.  Latham  in  Cutting  the  Ship  Timber,  and 
hope  he  will  perform  that  service  according  to  my  expectation.  I  writ  last  post 
to  the  Lieut.-Governor,  to  appoint  Mr.  Walters  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court. 

I  am  heartily  glad  of  your  victor)'  agt.  Van  Sweeten  in  England.  I  am 
also  glad  of  your  two  ships  coming  laden  from  the  Madeiras,  w'ch  will  supply 
new  York  plentifully  w'th  wine ;  and  I  hope  you  will  find  your  account  largely 
therein. 

I  desire  you  will  let  me  know  what  you  take  to  be  the  Cause  of  the  present 
scarcity  of  money  in  N.  York.  It  would  make  one  believe  merchants  there  send 
it  to  England  in  specie,  as  the  merchants  here  do. 

I  have  writ,  this  post,  again,  to  Coll.  Courtlandt,  to  pay  you  all  the 
arrears  of  my  salary.  He  shall  find,  in  a  little  time,  that  I  know  when  I  am  ill 
us'd,  for  I  can  take  away  when  I  please  the  benefit  he  has  of  furnishing  the 
Fort  with  wood,  and  other  things,  and  paying  workmen,  w'ch  I  believe  he 
makes  more  than  ordinary  advantage  of,  and  also  of  victualling  the  Companies 

— and  of  this  last  article  a  good  advantage,  when  the  subsistence 

is  paid  in  England.  I  am  now  in  a  way  of  making  that  matter  certain,  so  that 
the  victuallers  shall,  for  the  time  to  come,  receive  their  money  duly. 

My  wife  presents  her  thanks  and  service  to  Madam  De  Peyster,  for  her 
kind  Letter.  She  has  a  pain  in  her  head,  or  she  would  answer  it  this  post :  she 
desires  by  all  means  Madam  De  Peyster  will  be  so  kind  as  to  secure  the  pearl 
necklace  for  her,  if  it  be  good  and  Cheap. 

I  draw  on  Coll.  Courtlandt,  this  post,  for  56^  5s.,  by  bill  of  exchange, 
payable  to  Joseph  Bueno,  the  Jew,  at  ten  days'  sight.  I  wish  you  would 
watch  whether  Courtlandt  be  carefull  to  save  my  credit.  Perhaps  he  may 
be  such  a  brute  as  to  let  my  credit  suffer,  and  not  accept  my  bill :  but  I  will 


xiv 


APPENDIX. 


then  Immediately  turn  him  out  of  all.  I  dare  not  meddle  with  a  farthing  of  the 
2,ooo£  tax  till  I  have  the  King's  leave.  I  am  quite  out  of  money.  I  hope  to 
see  you  at  N.  York  the  latter  end  of  June.  My  service  to  Madam  De  Peyster. 
I  conclude. 

Your  very  affectionate  Friend  and  Servant, 

BELLOMONT. 

Against  next  post,  I  will  examine  Coll.  COURTLANDT'S  account  of  my 
salary,  which  I  have  not  yet  had  time  to  do. 


Boston,  the  jtk  April,  1700. 

Sir.  I  receiv'd  not  yours  of  the  25th  of  last  month  till  this  day — the  post 
having  been  stopped  four  or  five  days  on  the  way  hither  by  the  bad  weather. 

I  am  very  thankfull  for  your  kindness,  in  supplying  me  with  the  Two  50^ 
bills  of  exchange  ;  but  having  drawn  last  post  on  Coll.  COURTLANDT  for  50^, 
I  shall  have  occasion  but  for  one  of  the  Bills,  and  do  now  return  you  t'other. 

I  am  glad  you  write  me  word  that  Mr.  LATHAM  is  proceeding  in  cutting 
the  Ship  Timber,  which  I  desire  you  will  Incourage  him  in,  for  I  set  my  heart 
much  on  that  matter. 

I  have  directed  a  message  to  be  carried  to  the  5  Nations,  by  Coll. 
Schuyler,  Mr.  Livingston  and  Mr.  Hanson,  and  John  Baptist  Van 
Epp  is  to  go  Interpreter  with  them.  They  are  to  go  no  further  than  to  the 
Onondaga's  Castle,  and  are  to  send  my  message  to  the  other  Nations  by  some 
trusty  Indians.  They  have  my  instructions,  in  writing,  what  to  say  to  the 
Indians,  and  how  to  behave  themselves  in  every  respect.  I  have  appointed  all 
the  Sachems  of  the  5  Nations  to  meet  me  at  Albany  on  the  10th  day  of  next 
August,  and  the  messengers  are  to  tell  them  that  I  intend  them  then  a  good 
present.  I  desire  you  will  keep  this  private  a  while,  tho'  long  it  will  not  be  a 
secret  at  Yorke,  because  I  have  writ  to  the  Commiss'ers  at  Albany  of  my  design. 
I  wish  you  would  advise  me,  too,  how  I  may  secure  a  quantity  of  such  woolen 
clothes  as  are  fit  for  the  Indians,  viz :  shrowds  and  dresses,  &c,  and  not  pay  so 
extravagant  rates  for  them,  as  I  did  the  last  time  I  went  to  Albany,  and  there 
must  be  Linen  for  shirts  for  them  too.  I  would  gladly  have  you  and  Mr. 
Livingston  concern 'd  in  furnishing  those  things,  provided  I  may  be  reasonably 
used,  and  I  will  undertake  to  pay  you  in  3  months'  time.  I  intend  as  good  a 
present  to  the  Indians  as  ever  was  yet  made  them,  and  from  thence  you  may 


APPENDIX. 


XV 


take  your  measures  as  to  the  quantity  you  are  to  provide.  I  am  told  those 
woolends  may  be  had  20  per  cent,  cheaper  than  at  York  ;  but  I  hope  you  will 
take  such  a  course,  as  I  may  not  be  abus'd  in  the  price.  I  would  employ  you 
singly  in  the  affair,  but  that  I  am  obliged  to  Mr.  LIVINGSTON,  and  would  not 
willingly  put  any  slight  upon  him.  Besides,  I  believe  I  must  lodge  at  his  house 
at  Albany. 

We  are  in  fear  that  the  ship  commanded  by  Mason  and  Horton,  and  the 
brigantine  by  Jones,  are  all  three  lost.  ' 

Pray,  give  my  service  to  your  brother,  the  late  Mayor,  and  to  Dr.  Staats, 
Mr.  Waters  and  Mr.  Governeur.  Tell  Mr.  Gouverneur  I  rec'd  his  letter 
and  news,  and  thank  him  for  it,  but  have  not  time  to  write  to  him. 

I  desire  you  will  Inquire  whether  there  has  been  any  news  at  York  of 
Mr.  Leisler's  arrivall  in  England.  I  sent  a  packet  to  England  by  him,  to  the 
Ministers — but  have  not  since  heard  of  him  or  from  him. 

Let  me  know  if  it  be  True  if  Mr.  Hungerford  is  married  to  Mistress 
Bond. 

My  wife  desires  the  favor  of  Madam  De  Peyster,  to  buy  her  the  pearl 
necklace,  if  they  be  good  and  reasonably  cheap.  So,  w'th  our  kind  service  to 
her,  I  conclude. 

Your  affectionate  friend  and  humble  servant, 

BELLOMONT. 


Boston,  the  12th  of  May,  1700. 

Sir.  I  had  not  time  to  write  to  you  last  post,  to  tell  you  I  receiv'd  yours 
of  the  29th  of  last  month,  w'th  3  papers  inclosed,  viz  :  a  bill  of  loading  signed 
Mathias  de  Hart,  another  signed  John  Van  Brugh,  and  a  copy  of  Coll. 
Courtlandt's  account  of  the  price  of  the  ship  Nassau. 

Yours  of  the  6th  inst.  I  rec'd  last  night.  I  desire  you  will  deliver  the 
Inclosed  letter  to  Capt.  Evertson,  for  the  Governor  of  Kickoverall.  When 
I  come  to  York,  it  will  be  time  enough  to  endenize  Capt.  Evertson,  and  so 
tell  him.    I  had  a  letter  from  Mr.  Governeur  about  itt  this  post. 

I  am  glad  the  new  Town-house  is  so  far  advanced.  I  fear  by  Mr.  Latham's 
stay  so  long  in  the  woods,  he  will  make  that  Ship  Timber  I  bespoke  very 
chargeable,  w'ch  will  spoil  the  good  grace  of  the  matter. 

Our  kind  service  to  Madam  De  Peyster.      I  am, 

Your  affectionate  friend  and  servant, 

BELLOMONT. 


xvi 


APPENDIX. 


Dr.  Staats  writes  Coll.  Romer  word  that  Spencer  is  come  from 
England,  and  says  he  heard  Fletcher*  say  he  would  have  me  out  of  my 
Governments,  tho'  it  should  cost  him  10,000^.  Pray,  let  me  know  the  truth 
of  it,  but  make  the  inquiry  as  privately  as  you  can. 

De  Rimer,  the  late  Sheriffe,  and  Mr.  Gouverneur,  have  plaid  the  fool 
extremely,  for  taking  such  a  foolish  bond  for  Shelley's  appearance.  I  believe 
I  shall  be  directed  from  England  to  prosecute  them  both  for  putting  such  a 
fraud  upon  the  King,  for  it  can  passe  under  no  better  a  name. 


Boston,  the  8th  of  June,  1700. 

Sir.  I  am  glad  of  your  safe  return  home  from  your  circuit.  I  have  had 
no  letters  from  the  Ministers  by  the  two  Ships  lately  come  from  London,  except 
one  from  my  Lord  Chancellor,  and  two  or  three  from  particular  friends.  It 
seems  Mr.  Weaver  sent  the  Ministers  packets  by  Jeffers,  to  N.  York,  who 
is,  I  hope,  arriv'd  there  by  this  time.  I  am  afraid  Latham  will  have  made 
that  Timber  he  is  about  very  chargeable,  which  will  spoil  my  design  in  a  great 
measure. 

I  am  quite  out  of  paper,  and  this  town  affords  none  that  is  good.  Our  kind 
Service  to  Madam  De  Peyster. 

I  am  your  affectionate  friend  and  Servant, 

BELLOMONT. 

Pray,  call  on  Mr.  Clarkson  for  my  fees,  and  receive  them  for  me.  I  believe 
I  shall  be  forced  to  find  another  Secretary,  that  has  sense  enough  not  to  betray 
the  Secrets  of  the  Government.  Hungerford  must  have  had  notice  of  the 
writts  for  arresting,  from  CLARKSON. 


Boston,  the  jth  July,  1700. 

SIR.  Latham's  account  has  frighted  me— it  seeming  to  me  a  most 
extravagant  one.  I  can  only  tell  you  that  Mr.  Partridge,  for  300/,  loaded  a 
ship  of  260  Tons,  at  Pescattaway;  and  the  ship  Fortune,  which  is  but  of  a  130 
Ton,  will,  at  this  rate,  take  a  load  that  will  cost  306^.  6s.  2>^d.    I  desire  you 


*CoI.  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Governor  of  the  Colony  prior  to  Bellomont. 


APPENDIX. 


xvii 


will  forbear  paying  the  money  till  I  get  to  York,  for  I  am  not  at  all  satisfied 
with  Latham's  account,  and  his  usage  of  me.  I  had  better  have  had  the 
timber  provided  at  Pescattaway  than  have  run  the  hazard  of  being  so  cheated, 
as  I  find  I  am  like  to  be. 

My  wife  and  I  are  thankfule  for  your  kind  Invitation  to  your  house,  but  we 
are  Loath  to  be  Troublesome  to  you,  and  therefore  Intend  to  go  directly  to  the 
Fort,  and  there  take  up  our  quarters.  Our  kind  service  to  Madam  De  Peyster. 

I  am  your  affectionate  friend, 

and  humble  servant, 

BELLOMONT. 

I  intend  to  embark  next  Friday,  God  willing.  I  believe  the  Timber  ought 
to  be  shipped  out  of  hand. 


